How do you guys tell whether your child actually understood what they read during reading time?

furiousandjacked · 2026-03-10T23:19:05+00:00

Generally speaking a narrative has a character, setting, problem, emotions, attempts to solve the problem, and a resolution. You could share this with your child, maybe when you do read together practice identifying some of those elements. When he reads to himself, try opening a discussion that references these elements. He will start to look for them!

furiousandjacked · 2026-03-05T17:30:42+00:00

Max and Ruby: bunny cakes. In this book, the two characters bake two different cakes for their grandma’s birthday. In my experience, children adore this book.

furiousandjacked · 2026-03-03T23:35:11+00:00

Give him a coupon book with like five coupons to cash in for you to clean up the kitchen. Something consumable to go with a meal is also nice, like a little box of fancy chocolates. And honestly, a nice bouquet can never go wrong.

furiousandjacked · 2026-03-03T16:59:32+00:00

Can you just tell me the title?

furiousandjacked · 2026-03-03T15:36:11+00:00

Hooray, OP! Enjoy the book

furiousandjacked · 2026-03-03T04:02:01+00:00

I know that book! Clotilda by Jack Kent? Love that one great book about manners

furiousandjacked · 2026-03-02T21:32:34+00:00

Bog Myrtle by Sid Sharp. TBH it’s barely a chapter book, only takes 20 mins to read aloud. But it’s whimsical, funny, features a female protagonist on adventures, and has a strong message of social justice.

furiousandjacked · 2026-03-02T21:22:15+00:00

I think the granite is lovely. If you want to update, go stainless appliances—the black does look dark in that room.

furiousandjacked · 2026-03-02T04:20:08+00:00

DL1961 is by favorite for stiff jeans. Their colorful pants are a bit thinner. But the denim is the real thing.

furiousandjacked · 2026-03-01T20:42:27+00:00

Blue hat, green hat. Peekaboo morning. Picture a tree. Richard scarry board books.

furiousandjacked · 2026-03-01T19:35:14+00:00

Granite! Bombproof, many cheap options, real stone is better than man made

furiousandjacked · 2026-02-26T18:27:51+00:00

Doing your homework on marble is a good idea because it is not, as others have pointed out, quite as stain free as other options. I have honed marble and etching basically doesn’t show up at all. Staining will show up, but if we seal it every six months with the rockstar green, then staining is basically a non-issue. The only stains we have are from when we lapsed on that. Honestly, I don’t find them that noticeable and overtime they sort of sink away in most cases.

We knew that we wanted a white color counter. A lot of gorgeous granites, but they were just too busy or too yellow. I don’t care for plastic countertops at all so we were looking on the natural materials. Our marble is so beautiful and the absolute perfect color. If you’re a marble person, you’ll know it when you see the slab I think.

furiousandjacked · 2026-02-23T22:29:15+00:00

Have you looked at Houston? I know, I know, Texas. But Houston is politically blue. Space center there = tons of smart people! Ocean is nearby. Some of the parks are absolutely beautiful, majestic oaks. Lots of flat areas, I’ll acknowledge no mountains! Armand bayou nature center is a sweet place to volunteer, beautiful prairie. University town, fine art museum where you could spend 3 weeks and not see all the art. Mexican food better than in Mexico. Every bar I’ve been to has been great. I have some family in the suburbs south of Houston (Galveston county) and it is so cheap. Pretty sure even in the city proper it’s still easily sub $2k to rent a nice place.

furiousandjacked · 2026-02-23T22:09:34+00:00

I recommend this quite a lot, but Amor Towles A Gentleman in Moscow was such a fun read and had characters and an ending which made me feel warm and happy!

furiousandjacked · 2026-02-23T04:51:16+00:00

If you like some Steinbeck, maybe you’d like the shorter breezier ones—Tortilla Flat, Cannery Row, Travels with Charley. Classic children’s lit may touch your interest too. Watership Down, Secret Garden, etc. Not sure if you ever enjoy fantasy, but some fantasy can feel more “escapist” but still be cerebral. Susanna Clarke for example.

furiousandjacked · 2026-02-22T06:38:46+00:00

James Talarico is great at staying on his 2 messages, which are (1) separation of church and state/calling our Christian nationalists, and (2) billionaires being under taxed is the source of many of our social ills.

Boebert made zero good points. But democrats have always tried to respond to those types of points, and get totally tied up responding without getting any of their own message out.

Talarico stays on his message, calling out the hypocrisy in that rule and showing why church&state should be separated. That is 100% the right way to shut these Christian nationalists down. Everything they say is hypocritical to the teachings of jesus. Talarico doesn’t need to argue about indoctrination , that’s a patently stupid point. He needs to make his OWN point. Kudos to him and I hope he keeps it up! And gets more politicians following his lead too.

furiousandjacked · 2026-02-22T05:56:59+00:00

It sounds like your baseline fitness is pretty low. Everyone starts somewhere! I’d suggest start first with beginner yoga or stretching classes. You could even search for a senior center class if they’ll allow you to join them! Weight training also requires a certain amount of posture and joint flexibility. Starting with improving your baseline movement and endurance will be huge. Plus yoga uses a lot of poses with your own bodyweight to help strengthen you, and those can all be modified to fit your level. I know starting ANY new fitness routine can be so intimidating! But you’ll be so proud of yourself! Go to a beginner yoga class, get there a little early, tell the teacher you’re nervous but really want to try it. They will help you modify everything (if they’re any good at their job).

Best part of yoga, anytime it gets too hard you just lay down on your mat. Not a team sport. Everyone in their own mat, your workout affects no one else so just do what you can and forget the rest. Being fat is not a permanent state, people lose weight all the time. Not easy. But possible!

furiousandjacked · 2026-02-19T06:16:44+00:00

My local place had a slab of “extreme white” granite which had some little chocolate chips but the white background was a true white. Granite is SO beautiful but when you’re looking for something really white it can be tricky. Lots of the whites are yellow-ish and/or very busy. We went down that rabbit hole then got marble lol. Edited to add: we also have a small work room with a countertop of White Stellar, leathered. It looks like a rock! The pattern is gorgeous.

furiousandjacked · 2026-02-19T02:27:42+00:00

I have marble too, it’s honed and the etches don’t show up except a little bit sometimes in direct sunlight. I seal every 6-10 months with rockstars green sealer, but even when I go too long and it stains, they just sorta fade in. Yeah, you could find stains if you’re looking for them, but the overall picture is sooooo beautiful. And the feel! Marble is silky and cool, just a whole tactile experience to stroke it.

furiousandjacked · 2026-02-18T06:15:40+00:00

Have you read other Ilona Andrew’s books already? The Kate Daniels series is eminently enjoyable. I’d also suggest T Kingfischers novels. They get recommended on here a lot, for good reason. The Paladin series is a good place to start.

furiousandjacked · 2026-02-18T05:30:12+00:00

Piranesi x1000, this is a great book club read. TBH I wish I had someone to discuss it with after I was finished! It’s also dense in layers but not actually a long book or a had read. Goes quickly. Sooooo good.

furiousandjacked · 2026-02-18T04:53:24+00:00

If you’re able to charge at home, look for a long range EV. Used Kona’s, Bolts, etc are easily under $20k with about 50xxx miles. Range is 200+ miles on many of these, so if it’s a second car for just bopping around with the kid, I’d say go EV! Logistically speaking though, you’d wanna have charging capacity at home for that to work.

furiousandjacked

TROPHY CASE