Yeah-- it got LOADS better once I just accepted that most learning activities were one-time things with DD. That way, mentally, I could parse time/cost vs. benefit more realistically. I quickly learned not to pay more than a few dollars for something that didn't have at least 3 or 4 obvious uses.
I had to throw out the notions about repetition that most of those estimates are based upon, though. DD viewed activities that were repetitive as... well... challenges to her autonomy, basically. Which is weird, because she was happy enough to do what we asked of her most of the time. Just not when it came to educational activities that she felt she had already 'done' or 'seen.' So when a teacher's tip website would tell me that some item or activity was "used and used" to teach {concept}, I knew to be skeptical.
