DS5 tested positive for covid this morning. He started with a barking cough yesterday, and he's warm and tired. I just got off of a video visit with the pediatrician, who said that I need to keep him "isolated" from the rest of the family. There are seven of us is 1500sqft. I have all the windows open, but there is no way that I can keep him up in his room and away from everyone else. The three younger boys are *always* together. If he was exposed a few days ago, they must have all been exposed. DS26 (the one that I worry that most about and who has the most preexisting conditions) doesn't spend a lot of time upstairs with the rest of us, has an air purifier in his room, and usually comes home after the boys are in bed, so that will minimize his exposure at least. I a really, really pissed about this. We still wear kn95s when we go out into public. We have tried SO HARD to avoid this. The only places that he goes inside regularly is the library and church. This little one had a partial lung collapse last year just from a bad cold so I'm freaking out about this. Gah.

Ocean's 8!

I used GFWTM, lessons #1-60, for DS13 when he was in 5th. I'm planning on that with DS10 next year (if I keep them home one more year).

I'm coming back to this to ask if anyone can help me to figure out how I can tell if it's working? (I'm taking 10mg dose of XR around 8am.) I'm jotting some notes down in my bullet journal each day. The first day, I was a bit jittery, like I had WAY too much caffeine; my mother said that I was talking and acting 'speedy." Days two and three were normal? Day 4 I was ridiculously productive. Day five (yesterday) I had a pretty bad headache and was unproductive. Today is day 6, and it's just a normal day, with normal amounts of "got stuff done" and "stuff I forgot to do" and "stuff I'm avoiding." Besides a little bit of poorer sleep and a recurrence of some mild restless legs, I really haven't had any other negative side effects. I read that I should make a list of things that I want to see improve, but all the examples that I saw were based on work or school, and I'm home with my kids all day and not currently working. I see my doctor again in three weeks, but I don't want to wait three more weeks taking it if it isn't working, kwim?

This is what he kept saying he liked best, and what I thought he would prescribe. My insurance doesn't cover it, so he went with the Adderall (I got the generic).

I have not been able to schedule a neuropsych evaluation for myself (due to the pandemic, many practices are backed up and prioritizing children right now), but I've started therapy with a lovely psychologist who helps people with ADHD/anxiety/OCD/PTSD and I was able to go back to see my physician to finally get a prescription for ADHD meds. Now, I just need to take it. I've never taken much medicine, so I'm kind of nervous about it. (Thanks, anxiety!) Anyway, please share with me your positive experiences with Adderall XR.

Limit caffeine (and alcohol, when older) because they dilate the blood vessels. I use products from the Clinique Redness Solutions line and it helps a lot.

Looks like vyvanse isn't covered by my insurance at all. I will find the space in my budget if it's the best option, but it will be tricky. I spent all my energy yesterday and today contacting the names on the list the office sent me for evals... most of them got back to me that they either "don't do adults" or that they are "too busy" to fit me in, or even put me on their waiting list. So, that's been unhelpful. I emailed the doc back to say, basically, "WTF?" He replied that I need to schedule a zoom visit because we didn't discuss everything that was "germane to prescribing adhd meds". I have so much other stuff to try and get through this week that I hope maybe to have the bandwidth to get around to it next week. We'll see.

Just as an update, he started the Intro to C&P book last Monday, and completed the first chapter today, with the exception of the challenge questions (of which I'll have him pick one or two tomorrow, before he moves to chapter two). He works about 45 minutes/day, and has needed very little help from me. He's enjoying it so far! I told him he could go back to BA5 whenever he's stops having fun, so no pressure from me.

Welp. I quit. I emailed him back and said yes, please prescribe (the drug that you told me aallllllll about would be perfect for me). He replied this morning... That I would need to make *another* appointment to review WHICH DRUG WOULD BE APPROPRIATE and SIDE EFFECTS and ABUSE and whether medication is EVEN APPROPRIATE IN MY CASE. He says, "I don't just prescribe via email." I can't. I just can't. It has taken me YEARS to admit that I was struggling and ask for help. His email was patronizing and snarky, the underlying tone was that I was drug-seeking for nefarious reasons. I quit.

Thanks, everyone, for your input. As always, you're the best. I didn't realize that vyvanse would be so expensive! It looks like their patent runs out next year, so hopefully there will be a generic soon. I sent a message to my doc to fill the prescription.

I had my annual physical last week, and spoke to my doc about getting a psych and/or neuropsych eval to rule in/out OCD, anxiety, and ADHD. He referred me to the practice's social worker, who contacted me a few days later with a half-dozen names. He also stated that, because not all insurances will cover the evaluations and because there is usually a long wait time, that he could just prescribe me an ADHD med (vyvanse) to start now. I'm not sure how I feel about this. I've done a lot of searching online, and I'm even more conflicted/confused now than I was before I started googling. If you started ADHD meds as an adult, how would you feel about this? Should I wait for an eval before starting any meds? Should I give the meds a try now, while I wait for evals that could take months to complete? (As a side note, I've had the names to call for consults for three days now and I cannot bring myself to sit down and call any of them. Uuugghhhhhh.)

DS12 started dictation in 2nd (he was in public school in 1st). DS9 refused to do any 'school' writing in 1st grade at all, so no dictation until 3rd grade. DS7, in first grade, did dictation orally - I repeated the sentence several times, and he repeated it back to me. That's how we started 2nd grade this year as well, and now he's up to writing a dictation of 4-6 short words. Today, he repeated back the two sentence dictation, but only wrote the first four words (including a direct quotation and all relevant punctuation). He started the year with me scribing almost all his work and has moved to doing *almost* all of it himself, so this is big for him!

Noreen? 😉 Siobhan? Wesley? Theodore?

We got two letters, one for each parent, that split the total amount we received for four kids in half.

I'm a terrible housekeeper, and a 1500sq ft home with seven people living in it does not make it easier! I've been trying to keep to regular cleaning schedule, but I'm no good at it and fall off the wagon more often than not. We really could use a deep clean/massive purge around here. I did manage to throw *all* the snow boots out of the kitchen and into the basement, so they are at least out of the way. Today's regular chores are to change my sheets, do the laundry for me & DH, and clean the 1st floor half bath. If I can get that all done today,I will feel accomplished!

DS9 just finished BA4, and the last chapter was on counting & probability. He was really, really into it, and flew through it with very little trouble. Instead of going into BA5 right away, I am thinking of letting him try Intro to Counting & Probability and see how he does. He already knows how to work with factorials and Venn diagrams. He will definitely need help organizing tables and/or lists for keeping track of his thoughts, partly due to his age and partly due to how his brain works. Has anyone else ever tried this? (FWIW, this kid reads calculus books for fun. He tries to solve DS12's Intro to Alg problems, just to annoy him. BA is the math that I assign him each day, to make sure he doesn't have any gaps, but he does lots of other higher-level math on his own.)

Looking at the contract for this job online, I would make three times what DH makes currently for his part-time jobs. So, even if he left his part-time job, we would still be up quite a bit. I would not hire tutors for my kids to do math, we would just continue to do it at home if we needed to. (The 12 and 9-year-old are both working BA/AoPS on their own, and I am a math teacher!) I highly doubt we would pay anyone to do any of the housekeeping duties, maybe just bathrooms, and we really don't have any landscaping to speak of (though my husband does love to mow the lawn). The boys do their own laundry (except for the five year) and fold/put away all by themselves, so we just have to shift the times that they would do it. Saving for retirement actually means vesting into the public school retirement system, which I only need to teach for two more years in order to do. Everything year after that means my pension will be bigger. DH is already fully vested in the pension system. At for stressed out parents and kids adjusting, I don't know...

I'm sitting with my cup of tea, reading all of your responses to my husband. We've been having a pretty good conversation, so thanks everyone for your comments! My BFF and I both think that the school district might have had someone in mind to hire and was just going through the motions with the public post, because it was posted for exactly ELEVEN days, and it was the only teacher position posted for next year so far. (Postings around here are usually up for months.) I'll obviously update if I get a call to interview.

She could do a problem or two from Alcumus each day? You can set it to easy or insanely hard, whatever fits.

Oh, I love that I read this as you calling me a " young mom". 😍😂 I am 47, and my oldest is 26! Thank you for this! I needed it.

so, i was looking at the job posting again and noticed that applications had to be in by midnight TONIGHT. 😱 So, I applied.

Thanks, everyone, for the comments and questions. I have a lot of thinking to do. I am getting my resume in order, in any case... Ideologically, I don't think DH cares either way; he likes to brag about the cool things that the kids and I get to do during the day. His main concern is money - he's been working two jobs for 12-ish years now, high school teacher during the day and a community college adjunct two nights/week. This year, he even took on another night at the high school's night school program. So, I am sure he would like to work less! But, more than that, he would really like to be able to pay for most/all of the kids' future college tuition. This will only be possible if we are both working. So, if I'm going to need to go back to work before DS12 graduates from high school, that means I have 5 years. The question becomes, do I stay at home as long as possible and take whatever job I can when the time comes, or do I try for this job now, knowing how convenient it is to home/public school? Next year would also be the only year that all four of them would go to the same school together, letting them support each other as they adjust?

I've been homeschooling for 6 years now, and next year I will "officially" have four students (8th, 5th, 3rd, & K). I left my teaching job 10 years ago this month, right before DS9 was born. I've always know that I would have to go back to work full-time eventually, but I just kept going along, year to year, doing what I thought was best for my kids. For lots of reasons, I would like to continue homeschooling for another few years, but I'm not sure if those reasons are enough anymore? The local public high school is advertising for a math teacher. I can't decide if I should apply. It is, logistically, the absolute easiest place that I could work, as: it is exactly one mile from my house; it is where my kids will go to HS; it shares the same parking lot with the grammar school that I would have to enroll my kids if/when I go back to work. (Yes, I understanding that simply applying doesn't mean I would get the job.) CONS: There would be an immediate issue with appropriate math placement for both DS12 & DS9. I would need to get formal evaluations for DS9 & DS7, who will both likely need IEPs. The before-school program run by the grammar school starts at the same time that I would be required to be in my classroom. I would have to get myself and four kids up, ready, and out the door by 6:45am everyday *by myself*, as DH leaves for work at 5:30am. The loss of freedom in deciding what my kids learn, and the ability to chuck school and take a day trip when the weather/my mood calls for it. PROS: Money! Extremely convenient location to both home and kids' school. Same school system, so same school calendar as kids. The ability for my kids to socialize with and have relationships with people other than their brothers. Getting back into the career I always wanted, and back to putting money away for retirement. The ability to pay for these kids to start going to college in a few short years. A position this convenient might not be available when I do decide I have to go back to work. Uuuuuugggghhhhhh. Why is this such a hard decision?

Some days the lessons are quick, and sometimes the lessons really do take two days. You could schedule 2-3 days a week for writing, and just take your time!