Head out into the back yard or drive out away from city lights. Bring blankets and warm clothing as needed. Look up and enjoy the sight of the stars.

Your best bet is on a moonless night if you want the best view of the stars, but the moon itself can be a lot of fun too, especially with binoculars.

Knowing at least some of the constellations is nice, but you can get a book from the library if you aren’t too good at spotting them, or look them up online first to see what you should expect in your area. AstroViewer.com has a free online interactive sky map you can try.

Binoculars won’t do anything impressive for anything other than the moon, of course, except in rare situations. Sometimes a comet will come close enough that binoculars help with viewing.

I’ve always had a lot of sympathy for moms who have to or prefer to work outside the home. It’s not an easy thing, even if it’s your preference. And in Florida they might just be making it worse.

They’re looking at the possibility of a 4 day school week to save money, making the days longer so the kids would be in school the same number of hours.

Can I just say how miserable that sounds all the way around?

Miserable for the kids, who need free time to play every day. Being stuck for extra time 4 days a week in a classroom doesn’t strike me as a good plan for most ages. I don’t see it as being good for the kids academically, emotionally, socially or any other way.

And of course it’s miserable for the parents with kids young enough to still need daycare. That’s more time they’d be paying for, or a rougher time working their work schedule around the kids’ school schedule.

Given the tight finances of many families, that’s a very real concern. Not all of us are fortunate enough to be able to work at home, have a flexible schedule or otherwise be able to cope with these changes, no matter how much we love our children.

One can argue that this is a point in favor of homeschooling, but that’s not a viable solution for all families. And I don’t believe in the bit about only having kids if you can raise them entirely yourself. There’s no need to judge other parents so harshly.

There have been other times I’ve really wondered how working moms do it. Not out of contempt, but admiration for their determination.

When my son had his craniosynostosis surgery, and then helmet therapy, for example. I know I had it far, far easier than parents who worked outside the home. I can’t imagine how one would keep up with the many appointments I had to deal with – sometimes three in one week, all different days.

That’s not to say I don’t admire my fellow at home moms. I do. We cope with tight budgets, lots of criticisms from people who think we’re wasting our talents, and the daily challenges kids love to present. I think I’m lucky to be in that crowd, but I won’t judge those who don’t choose it for one reason or another. We’re all just doing our best for the most part.

I’ve been thinking of new features to add to this blog. With the needs people have right now, I’m going to start featuring various types of work at home jobs and home businesses each week.

The idea, of course, is to give people ideas on things they can do from home. I know so many people who need work right now.

The focus will be more on types of opportunities, rather than specific companies, at least at first. I’ll also be mixing up the classic opportunities with ones you may not know so much about. And of course any scam warning signs that I am aware of. Even the best of fields have scams that look much like the real thing.

My goal is to start this next week, energy levels permitting. I’m still tired too often to be sure of how well I can keep up just now, but it’s getting better bit by bit.

Still recovering from this past weekend. Actually, recovering from Friday, when we celebrated my son’s birthday. Probably should have just delayed things a couple weeks so I’d have more energy, but at least it’s over now.

On the plus side, the party went really well. Got to have some of my kids’ friends over, as well as family. My younger sister works for the state, and so had furlough this Friday. With Fridays as my husband’s regular day off, this worked really well.

But I had forgotten how very tiring parties can be, even when you simplify.

Of course, the grandparents had a great time playing “pass the baby”. Selene slept through most of it. The parents of the other kids had a lot of fun seeing Selene for the first time, and some of the kids were quite intrigued by how newborn babies are fed.

We didn’t plan games or anything like that for the kids. They’re still at the age where running around and playing with unfamiliar or even familiar toys in a different setting is plenty exciting, not to mention the presence of other kids. Sometimes planning games just seems pointless. Too hard to get the kids interested.

And if the party wasn’t tiring enough, dear, sweet Selene has hit a growth spurt. She’s always been a good eater but now… wow! Hopefully we’ll finish that soon. I’d like a good night’s sleep again.

Just talking as a family is a great activity. Sit down and chat about anything. What problems are people dealing with? What’s going well? Whatever.

Sometimes it works best to have each parent go one on one with each child. Kids will often open up best to just one person.

There doesn’t have to be a problem for it to be important to sit and just talk with your kids. It’s a reassurance for kids to know that you’re interested in whatever is on their minds.