Your post sounds almost exactly like me a year ago. I'd been running on empty for so long, and while my intentions were good, i was seriously struggling. I felt like I was going to snap. I'd gently like to point out that sending only one kid to school isn't exactly going to give you a huge break. If you're on the verge of breakdown, a small improvement doesn't really help much. To give your kids the best mom, you may need significant time to relax and heal. My advice: send anyone who can go. K on up. If you need a break, you need a break! I told my kids 2 weeks before school started (because that's when I decided that enough was enough) that they wouldn't be homeschooled anymore. They cried. But you know what? They're all super happy where they are now. They're all thriving. Nobody has asked to come home and would probably be devastated if I suggested it. If given a choice at the time, my kids would have wanted to stay home, but they didn't know what was best for the whole family. And the ones most opposed were stretched out of their comfort zones and thrived! They grew in ways they never would have at home. Peer pressure isn't always a bad thing. All of them have made friends with great kids. They seem to sense who the jerks are and steer clear. Something I've noticed is that while sending them has been super helpful, a year has not been enough to recover from the intense burnout. I *still* feel like I'm recovering from the constant stress and having to be everything to everyone in the family. Because I waited so long to find a healthy balance in my life, my recovery is a lot longer than it really had to be.

Hit me with your best ideas. Mom-to-be is admittedly high maintenance and has no tolerance for cheesy.

Dh got over it in about 3 days with tamiflu.

Take a pic, email it to yourself. And delete.

I 2nd the Wellbutrin for SAD. Game changer.

You sound like me! I started an antidepressant 2.5 weeks ago (not an ssri) and it's been wonderful. I am so much calmer and nicer to my kids. My main symptom was irritability.

Why is nobody suggesting you talk to her first? Sucking it up or ending the friendship are not the only two options. Talk to her! That's what I'd want a friend to do to me before making friendship-altering assumptions. This is not to say that I find her behavior great though. I'd be hurt too.

That sounds like a wonderful option too. The only drawback would be the extra drive to get her there. I'd do it in a heartbeat though. I put my kids in public school this year and it has been a very positive experience. They are 5th, 3rd, K, and I put my 3yo in preschool twice a week. They had been homeschooled 100% up until then. Honestly, I wish I had put them in sooner. It solved way more problems than it created.

Did not get the point of it at all. You read great books then do time-consuming activities that the kids griped about. I truly wanted to love it, but just reading books proved to be much better for us.

Does friend have to pay for parking?

Five in a Row.

Barefoot sweet red blend. You're welcome.

I'm a huge CC fan, but I think the co-op seems better. With CC, you put all your eggs in one basket, and if the tutor stinks, you're so outta luck. It makes long-term planning really tricky.

I have a k boy who is older (fall bday) and reasonably bright. I'd put him in 1. Your son will catch up so fast in writing.

Pick out some cool games. One for the older bunch and one for the younger. And if they are interesting for mom too, that's a double-win!

Aldi & meijer Rice Krispies are both gluten free

Civil or environmental engineering.

To stepmom: "Thanks for letting me know. How fun!" Then "forget" to give a donation and move on with life.

My DH is in a field where he can get a job pretty much wherever. We get recruiting brochures and calls on a regular basis. However, we have yet to take the bait. I've moved enough to know how hard it is. While you may not like your current location, keep in mind that it'll take probably at least 2 years to feel at home in the new location, and this is if you put in a lot of effort in meeting people/having them over. I'm not saying that you shouldn't move, but keep in mind that it'll take a decent chunk of time to feel settled. I'd seriously consider the costs of that. For us it's not worth it. For others, it might just be the adventure they need to spice things up.

This. Exactly what I do. One bin per child. Keep a random drawing/painting here or there (maybe one per year), a baby outfit, and other cool projects they've done over the years. It *has* to fit in the bin though. So for me, I'd keep the spoons and precious moments' stuff, but only if they fit in the bin.

I had this problem, but I had 4 kids. I don't think it's just a problem with an only child or when there is a huge spacing. Our homeschool was always finished before lunch, then we ate and had a quiet hour, but afternoons quickly became a time for fighting and aimlessness. Free play is good for kids, but not 4 hours each afternoon! I ended up signing us up for all sorts of homeschool activities to get us out more, but then I wore myself out. I never did find a good balance.

This was me! It turned out to be celiac.

Yes a million times to the loss of friends for moms. I just stopped homeschooling and it's been such a relief to rekindle old friendships. We made great friends homeschooling, but the amount of effort it took to maintain those was burdensome. People live far away sometimes, you have to drag the whole crew out to drop one kid off at a friend's house, etc. It's hard! Nearly every social interaction I had included my kids. I was not always able to really talk to people and be open about life with my 9yo daughter listening in the whole time. I agree that this socialization stuff is not BS. It's real. There are some weird homeschoolers out there. And totally cool ones too. Other challenges that are not spoken of is how difficult it is to do things like go to the dentist, get a haircut, get flu shots, go to the doctor, run random errands. When you have more than a kid or two, it's a TON of work to do them. Dragging 4 kids to the dentist for one child to get a filling is maddening! Need some q-tips but you're out? Forget it! It's just too much work! And homeschooling with a toddler? Maddening!

Public. It's such a pain to juggle multiple schools (if you count preschool, I have kids in 4 different schools right now and it can be challenging).

Tweak it. Do Fix-t. Definitely. Essentials doesn't really cover editing to a great extent. I tend to think mechanics is super important. At home, why not try, instead of skipping the EEL part entirely, doing it quickly. Spend 5 minutes on charts (orally), 5 minutes on the task sheet (just the 1st 4 tasks). That's what we did last year and my daughter had absolutely no problem keeping up with the class.