Two weeks until school starts. Camp is done, and the town swim club smells like old cheese sticks. I think we would all pack up for another driving adventure in a second, but this lazy stuff at home is getting boring. If we can't travel, then we might as well return to school and work.
When the kids are home, I feel like I have to set a good example and not plop in front of the computer for hours. So, I have been tackling long ignored home projects. I deep cleaned the kitchen yesterday. I think it was the first time that the window over the sink has been cleaned in at least a decade. As I was wiping it down, I discovered a button that sucks up the screen into a secret compartment. It rolled up in noisy clatter leaving a cloud of dust.
I have half a dozen long term writing projects that I want to work on, but they can wait until September. There are two of three ideas that would make a good story, but only if I act on them right away. I have to let them float away, because there's just no time. Ah, well.
Jonah is happily romping around a soccer field this morning. Ian is sitting in a pile of Lego patiently waiting until noon, when he will be allowed to play with video games. He finished Portal 2 last week, so he will continue with his Minecraft projects. I should work on reading with him. I should.
We're not sure what we'll do this afternoon. City museum? Town pool? I wish the kids could just run over to a neighbor's house and they could amuse each other, but things don't work like that anymore. I have to be Julie, Cruise Director. (Ah, some people were just shot around the Empire State building. Driving in mid-town will be a nightmare.)
Ian's disabilities add an extra layer of difficulty to Camp Home. He pretty much only wants to play video games, if we're home. If go somewhere else, then we can go bike riding or swimming or whatever, but if we're here, it's very hard to pull him away from the computer screen. He also can't be entirely trusted like other ten year olds, because when he's daydreaming, he tends to wander off. Because he goes to school in a far off town, he doesn't have any local friends. Relatively, these blips are pretty minor, but I have to be more involved than other parents.
So, Camp Home will go on for another two weeks. Wish me luck.
Apt. 11d 
As I’ve said, I’m in a similar position with my 10 year old. The 13 year old has done a pretty good job of doing a bunch of stuff without going to camp more than 3 weeks. She spent a lot of time on Tumblr, yes, but she also did a weekly summer wind ensemble, has been working on her summer homework, reads*, goes to dance practice, and plays video games with her brother and cousin (long-distance). But E would spend all day in front of the computer if I didn’t send him to camp 3 days a week, but today, not even the lure of an ice cream party is making him want to go to camp–his allergies are bad (I can tell it’s allergies because of my husband’s sneezing this morning, plus I have a sore throat and the sniffles, too, and the pollen has to be real bad to affect me).
*Bless John Green and his brother Hank for 1. writing decent books and 2. encouraging their vlog-watchers to read classic books.
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Speaking as a parent to a special needs kid who’s spent most of the summer at Camp Home? Camp Home sucks. We’ve been so lucky this past week that my in-laws took Autistic Youngest to their house near the big city for a week of fun and interaction. I was all out of ideas and energy, here (not to mention, I desperately needed some of this past week to work on course preps and writing).
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My kids have had a series of cold for weeks now, which makes Camp Home particularly boring. But I did get the tub recaulked yesterday.
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