Favorite Dip - 16 oz sour cream, ranch dip packet, shredded sharp cheddar (to taste and it’s your preference on thin or thick shredded) and lawrys season salt to taste. You can double for more. I serve with Fritos, wavy plain lays, cucumbers, sliced peppers, really any veggie!

Lake Pasta Salad - big package green and white cheese tortellini cook al dente. Let cool, add toppings, dress with Italian dressing mixed with pesto (can leave out pesto if not a fan)! Toppings I like: chopped walnuts, black olives, all colors of peppers, chopped asparagus.

Here for the answers! I use SWA and hadn’t thought about that yet.

Not much help on kids stations, but I have found that prime country/old school country type Spotify stations have been mostly appropriate and my kids like learning songs I listened to growing up!

I also have somehow managed to avoid the topic, but I imagine my 6 year old will ask this year once kindergarten starts talking about it. I’ve started to look online at the ideas that last a few days (frozen/in the freezer if misbehaving, elf draws a Christmas family portrait - one member per night until final product, etc). I’ve also started looking at a few kits online for days I’m desperate and out of time and I’m reading nearly every article on google that says “quick and easy elf ideas” to grab a few. Good luck!

My son was a massive biter in the 1/2 YO class (sometimes so many times he got kicked out of school for the day) and I was blessed with a daycare teacher who tracked when he was doing it. It came down to frustration. The friend could walk and he couldn’t yet or could talk and he couldn’t yet, etc. She advised we take one of those thick cactus teethers and tell him when he’s frustrated to grab that cactus and bite it. Sounds silly, but it worked. He’d go grab it. Then, once he was older and could do the same as friends and understood we didn’t need it anymore. Obviously this requires buy in from anyone who watches the child through the day, but might help.

When I can I try to meal prep on Sunday and cook a lot of ground turkey or beef then throughout the week I’ll do different meals - quesadillas, spaghetti, brown rice/black bean/corn/meat bowls. Another favorite is turkey or chicken sausage on a sheet pan with the stir fry carrots/broccoli bag tossed in olive oil with Italian seasoning in the oven for 20 mins.