I agree with a lot of what has been said before and I just wanted to point out one other thing. Not all younger mothers are the same. You may luck out and find one that surprises you with how much you have in common. Almost all of my female friends are 20+ years older than I am. I have always had trouble relating to women my own age and have found that I often fit in better with older ladies. The few friends I have that are my own age have noted the same. I find that life experience, not age, is the determining factor. For many, you need a lot of years for that life experience, and others have had enough in a short time. You may not have any luck with that in your area, but if you keep an open mind you might be pleasantly surprised. In any case I wish you the best and I hope you're able to find something that works for you and your daughter.

Hake Writing and Grammar might work for the 5th grader. We used it last year (without the writing component) and my son got a lot out of it. The book is written to the student, so it's pretty self-guided. I've never used CLE, so I can't compare the two. It was somewhat dry, but my son didn't hate it, so it must not be that bad. I can't think of anything for the 2nd grader that would really fit the bill. Beowulf's Grammar from Guest Hollow might work for grammar (for both of them, actually), but you'd have to put together the rest, and I'm not sure how self-guided it is. Definitely not dry, though. We didn't use it, but it looked really fun.

I was a horrible speller. In early high-school I probably spelled at a 3rd or 4th grade level. Spell checker taught me to spell, and 20ish years later I'm a pretty good speller. Because of that, I've always allowed my son to use it and I have seen him improve because of what it shows him. We use a spelling program too, and he asks how to spell things, but words that are regularly underlined in red get learned after a few times. I'm probably unusual in my thinking, but I feel it's just another tool in the spelling toolkit and I'm grateful to have it.

We used Hake last year for 5th and I thought it was very thorough. My son learned quite a bit and seems to have retained most of the important parts. That was our first major, formal grammar and I was really pleased with it.

The Mysterious Benedict Society might fit the bill. My son (11) and I have only read the first one so far, but it was fun. When I was about that age I remember loving The Song of the Lioness Quartet and The Protector of the Small series, both by Tamora Pierce. That was well over 20 years ago though, so you should probably check them for appropriateness. I'm sure you'll get lots of great recommendations on here!

(((Jean))) Sending positive thoughts your way and hoping for a smooth transition.

I think the caffeine in tea is somehow different from coffee. I didn't drink coffee for a few years, but had black tea every day. Then I had a cup of coffee and I was SO jittery. It was ridiculous! I now drink them interchangeably, but I can often feel a difference in my body between them. I hope you get to sleep tonight! Maybe try green tea in the afternoon? I used to make that with just a touch of cream and sugar and have it cold over ice in the afternoon. It was like green tea ice cream that way.

Good morning! Happy Friday! Tea is steeping. I will soon have the caffeine! (((Krissi))) You can do it! They probably have instant coffee at the gas station... Just make the fancy Dalgona coffee until you can get a new coffee maker delivered! 😉

Congratulations Spudz! Welcome to the world Tater Tot! Good morning all! I have the tea, DH is off to work, and the sun is shining. Today will be a good day! I have spoken! I feel like I'd want to check in with my doctor on this, but I do tend to be a worry wort. I'm also a BIG supporter of drinking lots of water, so I'd recommend that too. I sure hope it passes soon!

Good morning all! I managed to ketchup! Crazy busy weekend and I didn't have a chance to get on here at all. Lots of time in the yard this and things are coming together. I still need more fruit trees, but their SO expensive. I think I'll be hitting up the end-of-season sales for the rest. (((Spud))) My fingers are crossed that the Tater Tot arrives very soon! All the literary talk has been really interesting. I don't have much to contribute though. I know I've read some of them, but I can't remember them. I think I liked Great Expectations, but I was really young when I read it. My mother didn't like children's books, so I read a lot of stuff WAY earlier than I should have. I'm sure a ton was lost on me at the time. On to doing the things!

I agree completely. We have gotten a lot out of that book, and I plan to get the one on reactions when it comes out in October.

Good morning everyone! Happy Tea Day! Spud, I wish I had some amazing advice for you. In-laws (or parents in general) can be so hard. Perhaps you could set some really stringent rules due to the pandemic? Changing clothes, showering, masking, etc? That way you aren't actually limiting them, but it would make it less appealing to visit. I don't know all the details of your situation, so that may be worthless, but it was the only thing that came to mind when I read your post. (((Spud)))

Ooops... hmmm... I think my phone actually corrected it that way. I can't imagine why. I do have a Swedish keyboard, but that's not a word I know. Weird. Anyway, I apologize, my good Lady Slache Bach!

Susan, those pictures are gorgeous! I can't wait until the weather gets nice enough to go up into the mountains here. Salche, I was almost certain I had a Henry York in my family tree, but I couldn't find him in a quick search. I do some interesting ancestors though. The brother-in-law of William Penn, and an illegitimate son of a Swedish king are some of the better ones. There was a town in Pennsylvania that was named after some of them, but they changed the name. Genealogy is fun! Being a descendent of Bach is pretty awesome! I'm pretty sure there would be a massive revolt if I quit cooking and cleaning. In fact, I think I would be leading the revolt. I like food WAY too much. It's a shame though, that would have given me those hours I need.

Good morning, ITT. Has anyone here figured out how to shove an extra six or seven hours into the day? I promise to use at least two of those hours for sleep, if you'll share the secret! Really though, 24 hours simply isn't enough.