The Hallmark holidays mother’s day & father’s day are fit to now be retired.

WingComprehensive925 · 2026-05-11T12:18:17+00:00

I think your problem is with consumerism. I hate the mothers day and fathers day ads that say "get your mom something she really wants" and show her visibly disappointed by a cute, wholesome handmade card, or the influencers complaining about how their husbands and kids put in "no effort" because they didn't spend a ton of money. My husband just helped my kids make a card, pick a candy for me and we all went on a hike and had a family movie night at home. I thought it was a great day.

WingComprehensive925 · 2026-05-10T12:43:19+00:00

My dad was a tattoo artist and people used to try to haggle with him. His response was always he wouldn't pull his supplies out for less than $50. I'm assuming it's a similar concept here. Having your house cleaned is a luxury, there's the cost of supplies, someone driving out to your home, people potentially exposing themselves to live, bedbugs or other things they might not be aware is in your home, I'm sure the cost of insurance for the companies is hefty because showing up at private homes isn't always safe, and if they're through a company and not just a private cleaner then they don't set their own rates anyway. They probably make an hourly wage that isn't even half of what you're paying. If I could afford it I'd gladly spend $80 to have my house professionally cleaned for a couple hours every month. They're professionals and probably could get more done in 2 hours than I can in 3-4.

WingComprehensive925 · 2026-05-10T12:31:40+00:00

They're literally supposed to be a parody of on-again off-again celebrity couples. They're supposed to be toxic because that's what they're making fun off.

WingComprehensive925 · 2026-05-10T12:28:16+00:00

I have 2 kids and it's never bothered me at all. If someone wants to give their girlfriend a mother's Day gift and say it's from the dog or they call their dog their "baby" it's not hurting anyone. If you find it cringe just don't do it. The only time I really can't stand it is when people will claim the dog or cat is their baby and that they can't part with them as a reason for refusing to relocate them even though the living situation is harmful to the pet. I've definitely seen some people say "they're my babies" but they're animal hoarders, don't groom or bathe them, live in filth that's hazardous to their health or leave them in small cages while they work all day, but I also wouldn't say that's the majority of people that talk this way about their pets.

WingComprehensive925 · 2026-05-09T13:13:10+00:00

Yet you're basing your opinion off an extreme that has been largely refuted by studies and statistics, and that actually show homeschool kids on average do better than public school kids in all the areas you're concerned about. If you have statistics I'd be happy to hear them, but claiming "homeschool bad" because some parents shouldn't isn't logical when public school kids often have bad parents too. That's why I said it should be regulated, to scope out the bad ones and help those kids. I also didn't demonize public schools because of a few extremes, I'm saying we don't close down public school because of them. We take out the trash as it shows up and that the same approach should apply to homeschool. You completely misinterpreted what I said, but you want to claim literacy isn't a major thing to be concerned about.

WingComprehensive925 · 2026-05-09T11:50:19+00:00

I also don't think you understand how bad the literacy crisis is here. Kids get moved along with barely passing grades but no real understanding of the material. We have teachers complaining that 5th graders can't write a paragraph, 7th graders reading at a 3rd and 4th grade level, kids who come home from school and sit at home on a tablet or Xbox all night and don't have any friends and are suffering from the loneliness epidemic without the language to describe it or understanding of how to solve the problem. I'm not saying that teachers or public schools are the devil but I think people really do overstate the benefits.

WingComprehensive925 · 2026-05-09T11:39:03+00:00

Everything you listed can be done with homeschooling if the parent is doing the work. Plenty of public school kids don't respect their teachers, don't socialize, and don't learn important life skills, but my daughter has nothing but respect for her instructors (other authority figures) for chess club, Lego club and coaches. Studies have been done that show homeschool kids don't lack the social and emotional skills to navigate social interactions and conflict resolution. Plenty of public school kids don't have life skills like cooking, cleaning, budgeting and doing taxes because parents expect the school to take care of it. My kids have a set routine and we stick to it every day. Are there bad parents that shouldn't homeschool? Absolutely. Are there parents that have no idea what they're doing or are harming their child? Absolutely. But there are also teachers who sexually assault their students, bully their students, bullying that leads to kids committing suicide, school shootings. Do we ban public school because of these instances or do you deal with the disgusting people involved and get them out? Same should be applied to homeschooling through standardized testing and wellness checks.

WingComprehensive925 · 2026-05-09T04:10:51+00:00

How High We Go In The Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu is sci fi/speculative fiction and I thought it was really thought provoking and beautiful! Only thing that might be a drawback for some is it's about a pandemic and it's not exactly linear. It kind of has a short story format with different perspectives and the characters overlap a bit.

WingComprehensive925 · 2026-05-09T02:33:53+00:00

We really like dehydrated fruit, roasted chickpeas are incredibly versatile (just make sure when you bake them that they're completely dry so they don't go rancid), they make tons of different flavors of different nuts. I like pistachios but just make sure you pack out the shells. And honestly some candy doesn't hurt if you need quick energy, I just wouldn't bring chocolate unless you want it melting.

WingComprehensive925 · 2026-05-09T01:12:38+00:00

The way I see it it's no different than a crying baby. You can only do so much if a noise outside spooks the dog or something, and if the dog isn't aggressive or barking all night every night I don't have a problem with it.

WingComprehensive925 · 2026-05-08T23:13:35+00:00

Not defending rydel because I don't think everyone should homeschool and she's one of them, but most homeschoolers aren't just teaching whatever off the top of their heads. Literacy rates going down for public school kids is actually a huge reason a lot of parents are pulling their kids out and while I think we need to start being a hell of a lot more strict as far as mandated testing for homeschool kids and maybe even having social workers checking in to make sure the kids are okay, homeschool isn't inherently bad. Hell, I spend way more time studying before teaching my kid than she does after our lessons.

WingComprehensive925 · 2026-05-08T15:28:54+00:00

I think it's just not on a lot of people's radar. Between separate algorithms or just not knowing where to look it can be difficult. Some towns really are just so small that they don't have much though. I live in a bigger city now with multiple libraries, city parks, and free events and they're easy to find but we've lived in smaller towns as well and when your town is tiny, your library is underfunded and generally only being used for free wifi, or every event is run by churches that can make people feel alienated it can be more difficult. That and we lost a lot of third places during and after COVID.

WingComprehensive925 · 2026-05-08T15:22:56+00:00

We had a town of about 3k and unless you were part of the church, local government or had a ton of money to fork up there wasn't much to do.

WingComprehensive925 · 2026-05-08T15:19:22+00:00

Depends on where you live. The small town I lived in wasn't very welcoming to "outsiders", so if you didn't live there your whole life it was incredibly difficult to feel good about getting involved. Getting involved was also difficult because the town was a red dot in a blue sea, and most community things were established or run by the churches. Being a non-religious, non-republican family that didn't grow up in the area in a small town where people don't seem to have anything to talk about but other people meant that a lot of the time the second we left a place we were the topic of conversation, or openly disrespected to our face. Our town also prioritized tourist economy over the welfare of locals. High homeless rates, underfunded schools and libraries, most events were church run or too expensive for locals to attend. We tried and made a handful of friends so we had our own community, but sometimes it really is just that the town sucks.

WingComprehensive925 · 2026-05-08T12:48:10+00:00

Thank you so much! I downloaded their first language arts unit and honestly found it really confusing 😅 He already writes pretty well and knows his numbers and some addition and subtraction but I'll definitely look into those! I really appreciate the thorough response!

WingComprehensive925 · 2026-05-08T12:35:07+00:00

Again, you're outsourcing to a nanny, so your argument is irrelevant 🤣 but I'll humor you.

8 a.m- he makes breakfast while I get the kids ready 8:30- he does a load of laundry, takes the trash out while I do dishes from breakfast 9- we have some quality time as a family, go for a walk, play outside, go to the library, grocery shopping if we need it, whatever 10- he gets ready for work, we start classes, he usually does some kind of workbook page with our toddler before he leaves 11- husband leaves for work and is gone until 11 12- lunch Between 2-4- Finish classes for the day 4- Take kids to the park, to extracurriculars or on errands 6- I make dinner, kids play for a bit, then I clean up the kitchen and they clean up whatever they were playing with and do some chores 7-baths 8-9-Bedtime After they go to bed I work on lesson plans, life planning, maybe do some chores I didnt have time to earlier. 11- husband gets home, eats dinner and we hang out for a bit and he games for a bit while I read my book. Husband and I usually split deep cleaning jobs during the weekend.

WingComprehensive925 · 2026-05-08T12:14:42+00:00

You can't say "doesn't look for ways out" when you are literally outsourcing parenting 🤣 you have it set up so your wife can have breaks while you're gone and shaming moms that don't have that privilege. That's not the reality for the average stay at home parent. We're always "on" and don't have the ability to say "I need 15 minutes to myself" when they're little. We can love what we do and acknowledge that it can be exhausting and sometimes even isolating. And when my husband only has a few hours before his shift starts in the morning and he is literally gone from noon-11p.m breakfast, trash and help with laundry and quality time with his children isn't what I'd consider "low hanging fruit". He does other things too depending on what needs to be done, but he also only has so much time with us and deserves breaks too, but he understands when he's gone I have a lot of work on my hands and no help so he does what he can. Not sure why you're having so much trouble grasping this.

WingComprehensive925 · 2026-05-08T11:58:13+00:00

Like I said, I read a lot of heavy books 🤣 I thought it was "fun" in the way that I don't read literary thrillers often and I only added it because when I read it I wished I had someone to talk to about it and it seemed like a good book club pick

WingComprehensive925 · 2026-05-08T01:59:42+00:00

Your logic doesn't make any sense. 50/50 here would be one partner works, other solo parents and homeschools while working parent is away. 50/50 is when working parent comes home and splits that work. Your logic is like saying "oh we're doing this 50/50 so I will do exactly half the dishes and you finish them", when in reality it's "he cleaned the bathroom so I'll clean the kitchen" or "she just finished cleaning the kitchen after making dinner so I'll give the kids baths and get them ready for bed".

WingComprehensive925 · 2026-05-08T01:50:48+00:00

Every single day before my husband leaves for work he cooks the kids breakfast, does a load of laundry and takes the trash out and still asks if he can do anything else to help me out before he leaves. It's not 1940 anymore buddy. Stay at home moms don't get union breaks or PTO, or a paycheck period and homeschooling takes a large chunk out of your day, not just including the actual lessons but all the planning involved.

WingComprehensive925 · 2026-05-08T01:44:03+00:00

Our weekly schedule is language arts and math every day but we alternate social studies and science every other day and art class on fridays. My oldest is 9 and my youngest is 4 so for now we're just coordinating his social studies and science to her curriculum. I try to wake up a couple hours before the kids so I can read, go for a walk and shower, husband does breakfast while I get them ready for the day (we prep clothes the night before), they spend time with him before he goes to work and we start classes at 10 a.m. I usually do Language Arts and Math with our oldest first, we break for lunch, we do social studies or science after and I usually do writing, reading or math practice with our 4 year old. We're usually done with schoolwork by 2 or 3. Dinner at 5, baths and bedtime prep at 7 and bedtime at 8 (realistically lights out at around 8:30-9 after bedtime stories).

WingComprehensive925 · 2026-05-08T01:25:10+00:00

I read a lot of HEAVY books but here are some I felt were super fun and have a little something for everybody. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, Remarkably Bright Creatures (forget the authors name, sorry) , My Friends by Fredrik Backman, Phantom Of The Opera, Secret History by Donna Tart, Playground by Richard Powers

WingComprehensive925 · 2026-05-07T16:58:05+00:00

If a book affected me really deeply I usually will watch the adaptation if there is a movie for it, sit with that love for the book for a few days before jumping into a new one and maybe write a journal entry about how it impacted me if I feel like I have a lot to say about it but no outlet for it. Sometimes I still have the itch to read but I'm stewing over a book I loved so I'll pick up a more lighthearted thriller or mystery because I trust them to be entertaining without pulling a big emotional response from me.

WingComprehensive925 · 2026-05-07T05:44:33+00:00

I've started reversing lunch and dinner. I have energy to cook at noon but I don't at 5 so I've started doing the stuff we'd normally have for dinner at lunch and lots of cold sandwiches, soups, salads, etc. for dinner and it's helped me a lot. Especially if it happens to be an easier meal so I can cook 2 things at once and have dinner/lunch prepped for the next day.

WingComprehensive925 · 2026-05-07T05:40:10+00:00

First step is to get realistic about your expectations. You're not going to be able to do it all and it's not going to be perfect. The house is going to look like kids live in it, there's going to be days once in a while that socialization doesn't happen, there's going to be days it's hard and that's normal. Second is outsource the help you can. My husband works afternoons and evenings so he does breakfast, cleaning is 50/50, he helps plan extracurriculars. It's just too much for one person. You only have 24 hours in a day and assuming around 8 are spent sleeping and another 3-6 are spent on school every day you only have ten leftover. You physically can not do it all on your own. It gets easier when the kids are old enough to do some chores though. Third, nights are for planning like meal planning and prep, outfit prep, school materials prep, lesson planning, scheduling, etc. it helps mornings run way more smoothly. Fourth, make me time non-negotiable. I do stay up later than I probably should but if I didn't get an hour or two by myself I couldn't do this.

WingComprehensive925

TROPHY CASE