Reality Check

(And at lunchtime, too)

I'm in a rush so I may have to finish this / clarify stuff later.

Friday night was a great party in Qufim that got me well into WAR28. No major issues to report and our leader handled my rep beautifully.

Saturday was crafting (29.5!) and completion of the Halloween event. The +1 prize is a cloak with REFRESH. A level 1 cloak with Refresh. Let's see - SMN17, SCH25... Maybe even RDM and BLM. And since it's a level 1 item, Sync parties should have no effect on its effect!

Also Saturday, I invited Tonerith to RDB, and got a little sack envy from one of Fhox's recent recruits.

Now, on to the reason for today's bizarre title. Well, two reasons.

First, I've played this game for almost 2 years now. In that time, I've had a couple people asked me where I lived and generic personal stuff. But not too long ago, someone asked me my IRL name. I told them I'd have to think about it, and I think the decision is going to have to be {No thanks!} I hate to seem rude or stingy, but when I'm in-game, I pretty much *AM* Aerin. I don't want to set a precedent of being addressed in game as Mike. Oh... (j/k, I'm not that dingy!)

Second, Clone the Elder is getting harder to help academically. Not so much that the work is too hard for us (I miss questions on "Fifth Grader" regularly lol) but that he isn't keeping up with due dates. Yes, he has ADD. Yes, he's a kid and this crap is dull. But he's in an advanced track at a science-focused school and his grades are getting hammered mostly because he simply overlooks things.

Ape and I are trying to figure out how to help him and still have our lives too - I was up past 11 last night (/yawn) because he forgot to study for his science semester test! 20-odd pages of notes that he had on him all weekend...

Ape is considering quitting her job to either assist him full time (there are lots of calls to the teachers to be made and assignments and notes to coordinate) or home school him. In addition to her other responsibilities, which she handles well.

But that's not really what I'm upset about. What really makes me sad is that he clearly has genius capabilities in his brain. And I'm not just saying that as a parent - he's over 130 IQ if I recall. However, give him something creative and he just takes off. He's done various art projects that look really well-done and sophisticated. He doodles constantly. He's interested in music and seems to have a knack for guitar. And he's been playing with Pivot, the stick-figure animation tool. His animations are silly, but very creative and nuanced.

I don't know if Ape agrees, but I want him to be in an academic track that focuses on creativity in various media. The art middle school here has brutal auditions and a lot of applicants gunning for few slots, and this is PUBLIC school. The privates are prolly worse!

If any of you have any ideas I'd love to hear them! We've told him if he can't keep his grades at least C or above he's going to be pulled out, but I have no idea where we'd send him. Most of the rest of the middle schools in our city are D or F rated... I'm already driving 21 miles to take him to school, then 18+ for my trip to work, followed by another 20-mile run home. I drive a giant triangle across the city for this kid, because I love him and want him to be happy.

I know school usually stinks for kids - I was a C student myself and spent as little time with school as possible. But somehow we have to find a way. There's a lot of potential at his school - robotics, web design, band, etc. But first year's can't get into most of these... If we can survive this year maybe the next will come together?

P.S. No EXPcon - The change in plans where we'd stay Saturday night meant I missed the big panels Friday and Saturday morning. There's not much else and we wound up doing a ton of stuff together Saturday and some Sunday. Plus, I really want to cosplay!