OK, OK, got a challenge......I have been through 3(not one or two) ROKU boxes....have watched Netflix instantly on my old TV with the 3 plug ins....for months THEN ka-dooie! no connection, connection not found, re-set the box, re-set the modem, turning everthing on & off. I am tired and frustrated with System support(everyone speaks Farsi/English) from ROKU and I went to BEST BUYS and bought LG box....connected it with HDMI adapter I had to purchase seperately....and voila! got the program to show up on my TV screen; BUT am unable to get it to play....got my NETGEAR wireless out to try and facilitate this issue, it recognizes the NETGEAR wireless, BUT will not play. THIS CANNOT GO ON...I HAVE PHONE NETFLIX, ROKU, GO ON LINE FOR NETGEAR SUPPORT....I DON'T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO DO BESIDES BUT ANOTHER TV. HEEEEELLLLPPPPP!!!!!

Thank you both! Are all of these *active* games? I don't want anything to encourage him to become a couch potato. He has plenty of energy, and unfortunately our DS and DIL don't live where he can play outdoors very much. (City life, sigh.) I talked with DS today. An in-law works for Disney and has all three of these systems in connection with his work and research. He favors the X-Box, partly because there's more software being made for it. We don't usually give elaborate gifts, but I thought this would get tons of use while providing exercise, unlike most toys. DGS says he wants to be a "Scientist-Engineer", so if you have any suggestions along those lines, I'd love to hear them! (He may be wired that way -- DIL's family is rife with engineers, doctors, lawyers.)

Well, I just calmly asked DS when he got home about the math project, he started crying and said that he was afraid that if he didn't do well it would bring down his grade. I told him we'd email the teacher and ask, but I thought that this was an opportunity for extra credit, and that it wouldn't hurt his grade if he didn't do well. He agreed that it sounded interesting, and even after she emailed back that it would be graded, wouldn't tell us how much weight towards final it would be, he still thought he'd try it. We have never put much emphasis on grades, I don't know where he gets his anxiety and perfectionism from but as I said it's been from a very young age, well before school. But it's like anything he's afraid to do - once he tries it, and does well, it'll give him confidence. I told him if he doesn't do well on this project, he doesn't have to do any more "challenges" this year. I think DS did well on the tests and in school b/c we do take time to explain things to him (again from a young age), read to him (and now he reads by himself) all the time, and take the kids to places like the science museum and the art museum, not just "children's museums". Really I don't want to push him to take tests and do more work, but this was an opportunity to do a research project, gather data, analyze it, and draw conclusions from it - much more challenging and "real-world" than rote arithmetic. The teacher said that it would take the place of up to 2 nights' HW per week for the next 5 weeks, so it was not "extra" work piled on. My kids love learning and are definitely opinionated, but DS tends to be a bit "lazy" (maybe b/c he hasn't found his passion - except Pokemon?) and I'm just trying to challenge him to go beyond the bare minimum he needs to do in school - not that he does just "passing" work but it could easily slip into that as the coursework gets harder, if he doesn't get excited about *something*. If he never learns to study and research, what's he going to do in HS and college when he finds that he can't pass a test just by having done his HW up to that point? "Good enough" is good enough in some things, but there should be something that he can get passionate about (like when he was little and devoured the whole "100 Things You Should Know About..." series on his own). Maybe by extensions and modifications to the easy (boring - he never talks about school) classes he's taking now, he can *find* something to get excited about. Maybe not this year, but maybe in Jr High or HS? Maybe in a summer program? I don't know. I'm just afraid he's already gone on academic autopilot. He asked us to stop reading him bedtime stories when he was about 6-7. I have to screen a lot of the books in the Teen section of the library for him, b/c the content is too mature. But when I find a good book or series (he loves fantasy series) I get them for him. As I said, he found The Hobbit on his own, he read Narnia years ago, he's read Twain and T.H. White (was really into Merlin about 2-3 years ago). Occasionally I'll hand him a nonfiction book - he read A. Lincoln and Why Evolution is True this summer. He's still very interested in paleontology, archaeology, and astronomy, whenever I find an article in the WSJ on a new discovery or theory I point it out to him and sometimes we'll do research online to find out more. But it's not like he'll just pick up a nonfiction book on his own anymore. So I'm hoping that by requiring more research of him for his science and social studies classes, he can be motivated to explore more and maybe rekindle those interests (or find new ones) without me having to "find" interesting stuff for him. The kid is a walking encyclopedia - I don't think he forgets a single fact about nature or science or history once he's read it. It's just that "commitment to exploration" that's missing. And it's been creeping up on him for the past few years - seems like the longer he spends in public schools, the less interest and effort he puts into anything. When he was a toddler, preschooler, kindergartner, even 1st-2nd grade I'd say, he was just interested in *everything* and always wanted to find out "more". Now he seems apathetic about learning most of the time, unless DH or I point out something about a new scientific discovery and then help him research it. Most of the time he just wants to read (or re-read) fantasy books and play Gameboy. I hate that thing! My mom got him a used one at a yard sale last summer, then he begged us to let him use his own $ to buy a DS (but we gave it to him for Xmas instead), and now he takes it *everywhere* (except school). He plays it in the car on a 15-minute drive to go out to dinner, to my parents' house, etc. and plays it all weekend and nights after dinner, except for when he's reading. Of course I don't mind him reading LOTR, but I think he can stop re-reading Redwall and Warriors and other series that he read years ago and find something *new* and maybe a bit more advanced? I mean, I have my favorites I used to like to read over and over again (anything by Michener!) but I'd go a year or more before rereading a book - there were so many *new* books to read!

You may not be able to control what she does but you can control how you react, what you choose to do. Keep the restraining order. That keeps her away from you. If she shows up, then call the police (take her picture with your phone). Turn off your phones when the child is over. No phones on means no answering calls. Sure it will irritate her but so what? It will make your home more peaceful. I have a no electronics rule from 5 pm through about 7 pm. All phones are off. If it is a true emergency then someone can drive to my house. Your bf can tell her that he will have their child call her at 7 or 8 pm to say goodnight, if that is what usually happens. It is your (plural) house so establish rules and boundaries that work for your family and stick to them. If they have joint custody then his Dad should go have a meeting with the teacher and request an IEP- it is for learning disabilities. A child who is struggling in school will act up because they are not able to do the work, become very frustrated, don't fit in with the other kids. Perhaps he needs some assistance in school to help in. Schools push alot of material at kids and they need to be able to keep up. If the Mom is doing his homework for him then it sounds like the homework is too much for him and so it is easier for Mom to just do it for him. Many districts have special reading specialists for elementary kids. I would pursue having him tested, talking to the teacher about how he is struggling. This should be a positive time for him in school, if it is not then someone needs to figure out how to make it better. I would also take him to counseling. A 7 yr old should not be deliberately hurting or taking frustration out on animals. If she is bipolar and not taking meds, is she mentally competent to care for him? Is she doing the basic things that are required? I feel very sad for this little boy and the situation. I hope you can figure out how to improve the circumstances.