My kid is smarter than me...

My kid is smarter than me... Okay, to be honest, there are so many situations in which this statement applies that I've lost count of them.
But, tonight, I was shocked by my four year old's brilliance.

Here's what happened:
We were watching a movie on Netflix, when my husband decided to get a snack. He got up to pause the movie...

Pause

This usually requires exiting full screen and then clicking on the pause symbol on the screen.

But, no...

It is so much simpler than that (not that these steps are difficult)

Jacob, age 4, says to his dad, "No, Daddy, you don't have to use the mouse. You just press this." And, he proceeds to push the space bar. This pauses the show.

Daddy looks at the screen, then at Jacob, then at me.

"Do it again" he says.

Jacob presses the space bar again and the show plays.

"Again"

Paused

Now, I'm sure that there are many of you who already know this.
I did not know this.
My husband did not know this.
My four year old knew this.

I feel a little bit like I'm old and useless, and perhaps I should just roll over and die now. But, mostly, I'm just totally excited at how brilliant my kid is. And, I just learned a new trick too.

Never Pay Too Much When You Keep a Price List Like This

So, about 16 years ago, when I was first married, I read this book called The Complete Tightwad Gazette.  She has lots of great suggestions, but one that I used was to start making a price book. I've actually discussed this before in this article here.

Since I wrote that article, I have embraced technology and turned my "price book" into a "price list" I typed all of the items in alphabetical order into a Word document, printed it out, and placed it in a page protector inside my coupon binder. (note: this link is to Couponing101.com, a website that I use a lot. Her video tour of her coupon binder explains this concept better than I could in words.)

Over the years, I've heard others talk about, write about, blog about the virtues of keeping a price book or price list. I've yet to see anyone post theirs, although I may just not be looking in the right places. So, I thought I would share mine.

This list is simply a collection of notes I've made over the years as an attempt to keep a list of the best (as in lowest) prices I've seen over the years. These are BEFORE coupon use. I do not include prices after coupons because this list is a reference for me. When I am at the store, and I think "Oooh that looks like a good deal" I refer to my list, and then I know if I have seen much better, a little better or if this really is the best price I've ever seen.

You may have seen prices lower than the ones on my list, and in your area, you may never see prices as low as I have, but this is just a reference. I just figured since so many people are talking about this project, I'd post an example, so here it is. Oh, sometimes I note what store I got the deal from. WAG Walgreens, SAM Sam's club, KRO Kroger, TAG Target, etc. And, I actually added a few items today and so now I'm up to 2 pages. I add to the list after my shopping is done, right from the sale ad and my receipt. I print out a new copy of the list before I go to the store.

PRICE LIST

Baby Wipes 2.14cents per wipe (WAG)

Bar Soap Zest 37c a bar; Dial 34c a bar

Beef Boneless Roast 1.47 lb; Chuck Eye Steak 1.59 lb

Bologna OM or Eckrich 79c lb (KRO)

Bratwurst $2 lb

Bread frozen dough 38c loaf; white 24 oz 70c a loaf

Cashews 25.4c per oz (SAM)

Cereal dry, cold 6.25c per oz

Cheese, blocks 8oz 99c; $1.98 per lb

Cheese, shredded 1.56 lb

Cheese, sliced; imitation 88c per lb

Chicken B/S Tyson 1.55 lb (SAM); whole chx 29c lb; sliced 80c lb

Chocolate chips 12 oz 99c

Coffee; Folgers 9c an oz

Coffee filters 700for $2.88 or 41c per 100 (SAM)

Craisins (dried cranberries) 15.6c per oz or $2.49 per lb

Cream cheese 8 oz 89c

Dish soap Dawn 90oz for $7.48  8.3cents per oz (SAM)

Dryer sheets 120count $2

Eggs Large 3.66cents per egg

Fish Salmon $8.78lb (SAM)

Flour white 9.6c per lb; wheat 40c per lb

Freezer bags Gallon bags 6c per bag (SAM) Quart 4c; Non-freezer storage: Gallon 4.5c; sandwich 1.5c

Fruits, canned: Pears 5.3c per oz; peaches 8.3 c per oz; pie filling (apple/cherry) 21oz 1.29

Fruits, fresh: apples 69c lb, peaches, plums, nects 77c; cherries 2.99 lb; cantaloupe 1.50 each; grapes 49c lb; bananas 19c lb; watermelon 2.99; tomatoes 78c lb

Garbage bags 13 gal size 7.6cents per bag

Hamburger ground chuck 1.29 lb for 80/20 and 1.55 lb for 90/10

Hot chocolate 7.8c per serving

Household cleaning 1/4 to 1/2 cup ammonia to 1 gal water

Jelly Smuckers strawberry 7c per oz

Ketchup 2.5 c per oz

Lasagna noodles 5.6c per oz; whole frozen 12.5c per oz

Laundry soap Era $10.98 per 170 oz/ 6.5cents per oz; Tide $9.49 per 100 oz (TAG)

Mayonnaise: 1 gal 3.81; 32oz 1.49; Miracle Whip 1gal. 7.22 and 16oz 1.79

Milk 1.88 gallon; dry milk 1.52 gal. evaporated milk 12oz 59cents (64 oz of evaporated milk = 1 gal milk)

Napkins 120 55c

Oatmeal 4c per oz

Paper towels: Bounty 6 rolls/$4.50  75c per roll

Parmesan cheese 8oz $2.49 31c per oz

Pasta: spaghetti 1.8c per oz; egg noodles 5.8c per oz; lasagna 5.6c per oz; rotini 4.3c per oz

Pasta sauce 26oz 89cents

Peanut butter Jif 8c per oz; Spartan 5c per oz; peter pan 6.5c per oz

Popcorn: microwave 6.3c per oz; raw kernels 21 cents per lb or 1.3 cents per oz

Pork loin 1.79 lb

Raisins 1.28 per lb/8c per oz

Rice 50lbs for $10.04 = 20 c per lb = 1c per oz

Sloppy joe mix w/out meat 5c per oz

Soda pop 12 oz cans 12.5c per can

Sour cream 16 oz 99cents

Sugar 36c per lb

Sunscreen 8 oz for 3.99 Banana Boat 30spf

Toilet Bowl Cleaner Lysol 4ct/32oz (128) $6.98 $1.75 per bottle or 5.5cents per oz (SAM)

The Works 4ct/32oz $4.48 $1.12 per bottle or 3.5c per oz

Toilet paper 17c per roll (note: single rolls are nearly impossible to find) 32.4c per double roll (SAM)

Tortilla chips $1.11 per lb or 7c per oz

Tortilla shells 10 pack 79c

Tuna 4/$1 6oz cans 25c each

Turkey sliced 80c per lb

Vegetables, canned mixed 24c for 11oz or 33c for 16 oz

Vegetables, fresh: corn on cob 10/$2—20c each; celery 59c stalk; cukes 33c each; broccoli 98c lb; carrots 69c lb; cau liflower 1.50 lb; lettuce 99c per head; potatoes 8.8c per lb

Vegetables, frozen mixed 4.94cents per oz

Vinegar 32oz 89c

Yeast 9c per oz

Yogurt trix cups 7c per oz; Dannon cups 5.5c per oz

The hardest part of homeschooling...

The hardest part of homeschooling is everything is your fault.

I spent the early morning hours creating "report cards" for my children. I did this for their benefit, since they like positive feedback, and they are all geniuses... and also for Daddy, as he likes to see their progress.

I started out by searching for a template; something that looked sort of official.

There is a simple one here

I ended up using this one because I like MS publisher and knew I would be able to make changes and adapt it to my needs.

So, that part was easy. Then, I needed to fill in the grades for each subject. Some were easy; my boys are awesome at math, and always working ahead, so A's across the board. But, then, there's penmanship... a definite struggle. But, how can I label my child, "unsatisfactory"? I chose "needs improvement", which is true, but seems less harsh.

I realized as I filled out these charts that my children really are Excellent in some areas; like "helping others" but they all have shortcomings; my oldest has wretched spelling. I suppose this is because they are human, born into sin, and therefore lacking perfection.

If I was just the parent, I could blame their shortcomings on the poor educational system; blame it on the teacher. If I was just the teacher, then I could blame it on poor parenting. But, when I am brutally honest about their academic accomplishments, I can chalk up their failings to poor parenting (I don't make them work hard enough) or poor teaching ( I don't push them hard enough), either way it's my fault.

The most difficult part of homeschooling, for me, is knowing that it's all my fault.

Now, don't feel too sorry for me though. I have come to realize over the years that God gives us all different abilities. I do not bemoan the fact that my child can't spell because I know that if she needed to be the spelling bee champion, then God would have given her the gift of excellent spelling skills. I also know that my husband's penmanship is not much better than my son's and he gets along in life just fine; and so will they.
It isn't the end of the world if I can't honestly say that each of my children is Excellent in every category, and even if I sometimes have to say that they "need improvement".  In fact, these observations can lead us as parents to see the areas where our children need help, and the areas where they are gifted and we should push them forward toward even more challenging work, and possibly even encourage career opportunities in those areas.