David, my youngest niece is like that when it's NOT a world-wide pandemic. So, you know, solidarity. Also it could be worse?

I realize I am completely fangirling your brother. That's accurate.

Thanks Cass! He's actually pretty quiet about all the stuff he does: he never told us he was the one who brought this information back to the US to be examined! And we never knew he went to Wuhan!

...and for parents who find their kids frustrating, it's worth pointing out that my brother was a mediocre student for a long time, ran pretty wild, partied a lot as a teen and young adult, got into a fair amount of trouble, and sank my dad's van in a pond in high school. Oh, and flipped one of the family sedans. We were lucky he survived to 18, much less 57.

So there's hope!

sank my dad's van in a pond in high school.

I desperately want to hear this story.

Parent of teenagers solidarity fist-bump, David.

OMG. I am so with you on the floppy teens!!! Liv has been pretty honest about her lack of motivation to do her school work, but I finally have to just tell her to DO IT. I know it doesn't feel like you're learning, but we just have to get through another 6 weeks and then you are DONE!

After I wrote it out I realized that Matilda might be depressed. Not only are we isolated from school and friends, but we started with a hard two-week quarantine, and then she didn't get into SotA, and she got a shitty high school assignment and then her grandfather died.

But it's hard to tell with teenagers who just want to sleep and flop all the time anyway.

I wouldn't care about the schoolwork if she was busy beavering away on Harry Potter fanfic, or reading All The Books, or drawing or making films or doing *anything* that required two brain cells sparking off each other. But she's literally on Facetime with her friend while her friend is playing a computer game for hours.

I am trying to ascertain regular teen angst from The Depresh constantly. Owen has a psychologist we can call but Liv hasn't seen a practitioner yet. Keeping a close watch.

Hope it's just ennui. Nobody dies from ennui outside of Gashlycrumb Tinies, right?

Nobody dies from ennui outside of Gashlycrumb Tinies, right?

idk!

He's actually pretty quiet about all the stuff he does: he never told us he was the one who brought this information back to the US to be examined! And we never knew he went to Wuhan!

He is an infectious disease rockstar and he's fought - and taught others to fight - some of the scariest things we know to exist and kill humans. Barring hippos of which there was no mention.

He's fought a hippo? Or are you saying he's fought everything EXCEPT a hippo...and he might have done that and not mentioned it to you? ....what are his chances on a tennis court with a cheetah?

I've received a letter about how my stimulus payment has hit the bank. Now I have tRump's signature in my house! Aaaaaack! Maybe I'll mail the letter back to the White House with some blistering verbiage about how he should try having a spoonful of Clorox to see if it makes the cooties go away.

It was way more fun having my first Zoom meeting Sunday with the relatives. My little nephew is a man with a mustache! The whole thing was set up by my even littler niece! They went and grew up while I wasn't looking. Also the oldest niece is about six weeks away from delivering a baby girl and my cousin is gonna be Grandpa. I have definitely gotten old, but I see that as a privilege so I'm okay with my gray.

No hippos, but he's way into snakes, and when we lived in a big group house after college, he kept tarantullas, scorpions, and rattlesnakes. *grins*

I desperately want to hear this story.

Oh, you know, high school. Party out under the high-tension lines in February, drove out in the van, came down a steep hill and what he thought was just a puddle was a lot deeper, and the ice broke and the van went in. The amazing thing is he got it out of the water and to an all-night car wash, got most of the water out of the vehicle--well enough for Dad to drive to Mass the next morning. Dad never heard the story until about 15 years ago.

Just had a video call with two friends, and it was charming, and I need to do more of that.