I'm watching Bob Marley on Youtube, and I was remarking that it has to be hard to do a whole show when you're that high. I mean, I can't even go to Busch Gardens sober, or worse yet, have two sips of beer and not feel like I'm going to pass out and throw up during More Pet Shenanigans. And that's when it hit me what my problem is. I'm not going to Busch Gardens high. That's got to be up there with the oh so controversial three martini playdate that you read about in those goody goody mainstream parenting magazines. Four kids in a theme park alone with me; I'd call that an irresponsible venture under any circumstances.

Tonight was a dinner and dessert discussion with some people I know who are homeschooling older kids--middle and high school. Very, very enlightening. One of the most interesting things was that there was no mention of needing a solid support group, or even a support group at all. Most of their children are plenty plugged in with whatever it is they do--playing the harp, Boy Scouts, choirs, etc. And like with anything else, do you really need more than a couple of good friends? Do you really need a crowd. And even more energizing is the reiteration that we homeschool, that's what we do. Just as with school, or anything else in life, for that matter, there may be good years and less good years, years when math goes well and years when it isn't so great. But you keep moving along. There are no guarantees anywhere. I brought up the question of why so many people seem to send their children to school once they hit middle school or so. There were a couple of responses, including one I hadn't really thought of, which is that maybe after 12 or 13 years, many people are just ready for a break. Or the typical stresses of middle schoolers and teenagers may leave parents wanting to feel less solely responsible or wanting time out from some of the autonomy struggles. Since this still seems in the distant future to me, it hadn't crossed my mind to think about the challenges of extra power struggles...and trying to get in math and science.

I could spend all day watching Discovery and the History Channel. Imhotep is on right now. They are excavating a foot. The other night it was Loch Ness. Isn't it always Loch Ness?

I wish I had positive energy to write interesting posts these days. It's all I can do to stay awake. Perhaps tomorrow, another day, will bring fresh material.