I am not a fan of hot dogs, but my husband and older son enjoy them. Their favorite is Kayem Beef Hot dogs which is a local brand. Out of the national brands our go to is Nathan's.

We still send out approximately 50-60 cards a year. It's definitely work to pull it all together but I really enjoy receiving cards from friends and family far and wide every year; especially now when we aren't able to be together. I keep a list each year where I track who we receive cards from. If it's been a few years since we received one then we decide if we want to take them off. Usually just when I decide to remove someone we get one from them again!

We often do Target or Dunkin Donuts but these days we turned to Amazon since so many people including our family are ordering so many items online.

I used to do things like the green food coloring in the toilet and green marker (erasable) on the mirrors. Honestly it was one of those things I started because the kids made leprechaun traps in preschool and other families were doing things at home. Now that my kids are older we stopped doing it and I'm just fine with that!

We used one for a brief amount of time with our older son also around 2 when our second was born and we were going to busy places. I don't recall getting any dirty looks but it was worthwhile for us for that brief window of time when he was into bolting away. We all do the best we can, no need for the judgment especially when it's your child's safety in mind!

I agree, I definitely would lean towards letting my kids take turns winning when they were young to avoid too many meltdowns. As they've gotten older we definitely keep it more real and try to encourage being a good sport as that's an invaluable life lesson.

We did it once when my kids were in Kindergarten and 2nd grade and it worked out ok even though it is frowned upon by the schools. Now that they are in older grades I don't think it's worth it for the amount of school work missed. Some teachers are more accommodating than others but I've heard it can be really hard to catch up on everything after missing a significant number of days. Now, if it's just a matter of missing a day to take advantage of cheaper flights than I could see the advantage, but not a whole week or more.

We signed my older son up for Cub Scouts in first grade and he only lasted a year. He enjoyed most of it, but he ended up being more interested in other activities so we didn't continue it. My younger son never had an interest in joining. I have great memories of being in Girl Scouts but it definitely isn't for everyone.

Typically we get $25 gift cards for teachers although some years I've contributed towards a class gift. We also do smaller gifts for the bus drivers.

We do stocking stuffers for everyone in our immediate family and we also do them for my parents and sister. It's actually one of my favorite parts of Christmas.

I always had secret wrapping paper that only Santa used as well. This is the first year I don't have to keep it a secret. Kind of sad that part of our kids lives is over but it does make it all a lot easier to keep straight!

I agree, I'd love to start earlier in the year but at least for my kids I find that they change their minds a lot and what they might want in August can completely change by December. I like to wait and see what kinds of deals I can get around the holidays as well.

I'm a huge fan of Halloween and we go all out with our yard decorations, but I don't start putting them up until the first week of October.

This happened to us as well with one of our sons and you are right, they just grow out of it eventually. Instead of using the pull-ups at night, we used the Good Nites bed pads that have adhesive to stick to the mattress pad or sheet. It makes bed changes a lot easier since the pad captures any wetness and keeps it from soaking into the mattress.

We've done it both ways but we've never coordinated all our costumes which I think is always fun to see in other people's photos. I usually take the kids out trick-or-treating while my husband stays home to hand out the candy so it's not like we are all together at one time for the most part.

I'm not sure when the best time is to ditch the paci, but it took us 3 years with our first child. When he was getting ready to start preschool we wrote a letter to the "paci fairy" and mailed off his pacifiers so she could give them to a new baby that needed them (we mailed it to my parents house). It worked like a charm and we never had any relapses. Our second child really never took to one after the first month or so which was fine with me.

I didn't cry when either of my kids went off to kindergarten but they were both excited to go so that probably helped. I think it will hit me more when my youngest is done with elementary school, knowing those days are gone and behind us.

I make our bed every morning, it's such a reflex I don't even think about. We also try to have the kids make their bed and it will last for a while and then fizzle out again. I am not good about enforcing it but unless company is around and going to see it I guess it's not a huge priority for me as I'm not sleeping in it!

I like the selection at Target, but I do agree that they sell out of items fairly quickly.

Our schools don't offer supply kits, but it sounds like an interesting idea. It sure beats running around to different stores trying to find everything on the supply list.