hi, everybody--

This is mostly just a note to let you know that I'm thinking of all of you! I had a few, very random, thoughts more (sorry not to be more coherent here):

How is your son's health, bronxmom? Wasn't he having all those funny strep things? He may be feeling really crummy, on top of all the stuff at school. As Dazey and Kriston say, it might well be time just to have a break. An awful lot of stuff is "educational," without being school-y. Helping you take care of the baby would be very educational! Or helping you with your tax return (I still remember sorting receipts for my dad when I was little--I learned a lot about the farm that way). Cooking together is good, grocery shopping together is good, planting some radishes in a flowerpot is good, going for a walk in the park looking for signs of spring is very good....

You know, I really, really don't like the taking recess away--not only do kids need the break to run around, they need not to be put in a position where they are shamed. Not nice.

This is subversive, and possibly not super-ethical, but if you decide to have him finish the year at school, what would you think about just *doing* his homework yourself? (ack! ducks while people throw brickbats...) If it's something you know that he knows, and it is just frustrating him and making him unhappy to have to trudge through it, it might be worth thinking over setting one's moral qualms aside and just getting it over with, so that he can survive the year. I think lessons in academic integrity could come up some other year, when he's in better shape.

montana, three kids are just hard some days--I'm sorry the baby's not sleeping better--it's so hard to cope when you're tired. I am not trying to talk you into homeschooling at all, but one reason that it works well for us is that the boys have such different sleep schedules. I get a lot done with Groucho early in the morning while Harpo is still sleeping, for instance.

Sorry you're having some hard days, too, IronMom--I think this is a difficult time of year for little peanuts--winter isn't fun anymore, but the nice weather isn't quite here yet. Hang in there.

peace
minnie