<p>Calmom:</p>
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<blockquote> <p>So here is my next question, for parents to ask themselves: when was the last time you simply spent a day relaxing, goofing off and having fun with your kid? If the answer is "can't remember" - "seems like years" - or "we can't stand being around each other".... then you or your kid might fit into the category of "overstressed." >></p> </blockquote>
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<p>I wish it were that simple. We have not had a family vacation in at least two years. Why? Because S loves to go a math camp that ends in mid-August. There's no time for a real vacation before school starts again. My S's idea of fun is math and more math. We can hardly take weekend jaunts together because of his math/science programs/homework. And you know what? one reason my S likes his math programs is that in those programs, he is a totally ordinary kid, with no special status, because everyone else is in the same situation. When I went to pick up my S at the end of those 6 weeks of unrelenting problem sets, there were at least 5 kids crying that it had ended. A number of us recognized our kids in the Atlantic Monthly article about Nerd Camp (aka CTY).
A lot of us probably feel like SoozieVT, except for the driving.</p>