Organizing Thursday: Modular Storage Drawer Set

PSA for anyone with a Hisense Babysense baby monitor, there’s a new recall on some models for a fire risk associated with charging the parent unit. We didn’t get a notification from the manufacturer and just happened to stumble across this news so thought I’d pass it along.

Less than 24 hours ago, we hit a record high for the date of 89 degrees. Now there is sleet hitting my window, and snow is predicted later this afternoon. Wild. I hope our cherry blossoms survive.

RANT: why is math class all apps and games now?! I’m so over it.

I’m the mom with the 2e 4th grader struggling with math. We have been doing 20 minutes a day of practice worksheets (and having her correct them- thank you for that suggestion!!). Her school was laughably useless when I asked for resources for worksheets for at home practice. (“Really…I just need you to give her homework sheets!”). They sent home what has to be $100 of licensed math product games (kukemon, Tang, etc and the relevant wheels, dice, chips, blocks, etc), printed out game sheets, lists of math apps etc. We tried them and they did absolutely nothing. 3 days of working through some math worksheets I made up/found online and she is CLEARLY learning this material. Like, woke up today and asked if we had time to do a couple quick problems for extra practice (?!?!) and was beaming at the bus stop bc she got most of them right.

Query – If you received a windfall, would you fully fund college for your kids, or split between college funds and the market?

Longer backstory – due to a very tragic and unexpected early death of a beloved parent, DH and I find ourselves in the position where we will receive an inheritance this year. The amount will almost exactly cover what it would take to fully fund 529s for each of our three kids (ages 13, 11, and 6) – and by fully fund, I mean put in an amount that would enable each kid to attend a private school debt free, if they choose. Our accountant recommended we split it between 529s and just putting it in the market in some low cost index funds.

I am leaning towards putting all of it into 529s. My rationales —

– I like the emotional burden being removed that we will need to save anything else for college. The older two are very hard workers who are pretty locked into being on a college path already, but no one is so gifted or talented that schools will be knocking down our doors. Being fully funded means they can really stretch their wings to find a place they love without having to worry about the burden of debt in the choice.

– Being honest here, we love to travel and spend money on big adventures. We always do so within our means, but I like the fact that the inheritance would be basically untouchable in 529s. This would (in my mind) free up any extra bonuses to be used for dream trips, but we wouldn’t have to worry that the trip is taking away from someone’s dream college acceptance.

– The money is moveable between kids in 529s. So if someone does end up at a cheaper place, we’d still have education money saved for a grad degree or another kid. Or, a grandkid, even.

– The parent who tragically passed would probably love knowing that they sent their grandkids to college. Brings tears to my eyes, but education was really meaningful to them.

The accountant’s point, which is well taken, is that who knows where they will go to school, you can’t borrow for retirement (though we are theoretically on track there), etc. etc. Our investments are a little behind from years of daycare, but to me, this step just opens up future funds away from college savings to put extra cash in the market or travel, depending on how we do each year.

I don’t know, my husband and I are really emotional about this (him especially, as it’s his parent). We feel a little stuck. It’s of course a gift, though we’d absolutely rather have his parent with us still.

I posted yesterday about my 1st grader’s iPad use at school. I talked with his teacher and it turns out it is 15-20 minutes a day on the school reading and math apps. The game he mentioned is a math game that he sometimes gets to play when he finishes his reading app early. The “free iPad time” is apparently rotated in every third or fourth indoor recess and it is supervised. The others they do indoor games and activities.

I still don’t totally love the iPad use at school (even their standardized state testing is on iPads now, ugh). But the vast majority of what he’s doing is on paper and he’s doing a ton of writing stories, reading chapter books, etc.

All of this is to say, thanks so much to those who commented. I’m glad I asked the question before raising it as a complaint.