You're not getting enough sleep is the short answer. Your quality of sleep is so low that your brain is always on, listening for things and helping others. Since there's no activity at that hour, your brain is creating it.

Good morning! I ended up skipping some of my astronomy work last night and went to a presentation on the Artemis missions/meeting basic needs in a long term colonization mission (bioregeneration). It was great, but I could have done without the trio of old, non-sober men in the front who dominated the Q&A portion with inane questions. When the thought starts with "I remember an old sci-fi movie...." whatever follows is not going to be on topic, insightful, or relevant. On the upside, ds14 was so mortified during our talk and the implications his actions had, that he has made some choices that reflect his willingness to do better. Today: finish astronomy homework midterm go to the grocery store family time? Maybe go for a walk

DS14 will be plenty busy this summer. He has two short (5-day, 6-day) overnight camps, one at the beginning and one at the end of summer. In the middle: -daily morning work: 1h each day consisting of schoolwork for the coming year, working out, and 'mandatory fun' - things he wouldn't explore on his own until he gets over the first hump. -volunteering: he has a few full days and a couple short days -camping? His troop wanted to do a great trip but logistics weren't feasible. I'm considering doing it with him, just the two of us (camping on an island), backpacking in and out. Most of his daytime will be spent watching tv or lounging about, and evenings will be swimming and hanging out with friends or family. He's considering picking up a job at our local theatre.

Good morning! I'm still at my desk, doing schoolwork. coffee get ds off to school schoolwork laundry schoolwork have a Moment with my child, who managed to be bold enough to write one of the few words he is forbidden to ever say, write, or communicate unless it is for an academic paper. He is just about pooping himself right now knowing that I know. tutor schoolwork dinner schoolwork 4.5/11 assignments done. Ugh.

I've used both MUS and CLE with different kids. You can absolutely use a supplement with MUS. We used Bedtime Math (young years), printouts from online, and I keep Singapore Challenging Math Problems on my shelf to use with any kid for extra work. One of the reasons why I like MUS so much for kids is it is one of the few that uses arrays and visual math all the way through AND has a 4-part lesson set up: demonstrate, do, write, teach back. The material is demonstrated satisfactorily for a parent to be able to understand exactly what their child needs to do and also teach themselves as well. As you get further in, it has been revamped to add more word problems - but the early years still do not, partly due to the literacy limitations of the younger children. CLE fills a niche as well, but it's not my first choice with kids, especially young ones. The work spirals, the pages are slightly more cluttered, and parents have a tendency to ignore the teacher's guide until their kid is overwhelmed/lost trying to be independent. Math is an interactive subject. It needs willing participants and consistent feedback. I'll use CLE for an older student who wants to do something alone, but I'm more reluctant to remove all assistance (direct teaching, manipulatives, instant feedback) from younger children in a quest to get them to do something alone. It's a good way to get a child to be an adult who doesn't have a firm grasp on mathematics. You can split the difference between the two and go for Math With Confidence, which is gentle, spiral-ish, and has direct teaching with manipulatives so everyone is confident in the lesson material and how the math works. Every kid has a program that works well for them, and that's really what a parent should consider: Is this working for my kid? How can I help myself so that it works best for them?

4/11 assignments done. The rest are: scavenger hunt/video to prove I learned poster (with selfie) read a chapter watch the sky/make a video to prove I learned answer two sets of questions midterm I have two more days to finish, so I'm taking a break for now. I'll read the second chapter tonight, make the videos and answer the questions tomorrow (when the house is quieter), and do the poster and midterm on Friday.

1 of 11 assignments done. I'm taking a break before going back in to finish the second.

I'm happy it worked out so well!! The journals were a lovely idea!

Good morning! After a week of sunshine and 70-90F, coming back to the overcast 30s-low 50s is a bit dreary. So is the day's agenda: laundry schoolwork meal plan schoolwork touch base with families schoolwork grocery shop (or maybe dh will tackle this one) schoolwork *sigh* I should have made more time this past week.

I actually was glad to move years ago. Youngest ds had a slight speech impediment for a long time. It was more pronounced in the middle of the country, but as soon as we moved to where the 'R's are dropped, he fit right in. 😄 My own accent varies between a non-descript flat nothingness that fits in most places to "remembering speech therapy tight clip on all consonants" after one drink.

This is a hard one. I think the nature trails are good. We have done trips to national parks that are just filled with trails. Acadia is actually one of our favorites because it also has a very decent bus system to get people around to different areas on the island. I don't know about your area, but around here more 'sensory' walks are popping up. They weren't around when ds would have benefited from them, so we ended up investing in ninja tension lines(?) for our trees, where he could walk on one while holding on to another, swing from rings, climb ladders...as he got older, we could adjust them. And then we added a swinging chair and eventually a hammock. Course, the child has ugly allergies so all that and he can only use it 2 months a year. LOL But he did love it, especially during the pandemic. You might also look toward sports. Apparently it's a well kept secret here that there are leagues for those with different needs. They're more relaxed and mostly just a chance to get into the pitch or field to have fun each week.

Exhausting. 🤣 No, really, it was good. A lot of sweet moments. We are now home. Dinner is in the oven. We're unpacked (mostly), picked up the mail, and are getting ourselves ready to go back to the grind tomorrow.

I hope the dental work goes well, @mom31257! We are finally done with vacation. pack up the hotel room head to the airport fly home find our car grab dinner from the grocery store on the way. (Ours makes a huge pizza for $7) Plus we need milk, maybe. It's not often used unless oldest ds is home and he has another short trip. unpack the necessities make the beds shower make sure ds charges his chromebook and is set up for school tomorrow.

Boredom and downtime are good, but also....... We found that ds14 does best here when he discovered his own "holding pattern" with a bit of help. Early morning is completing whatever has been set for him to accomplish (exercise, chores, holiday school work set by his teachers). Daytime is for lounging around and hanging out. Nobody will make anyone do anything. In the evening/early night he gets together with friends, does outside stuff with us, or we have family together time. Rinse, repeat the next day.

My question, too. They're pretty expensive here. I know more YAs who vape and use CBD oils in different forms than those who smoke. I'm not even sure I know more than one adult who smokes cigarettes now.