The sundews look like capillaris or rotundifolia to me as well. I do not see snap tentacles, so I am not sure if they are spatulata. The moss looks like sprigs of live sphagnum to me. Terrariums can work for North American plants, it is just much easier to grow them open pot or outdoors where possible (I can't grow mine outside either). Just keep an eye out for fungus. The main thing is light, light, and more light for Venus Flytraps and Sarracenias. The coloration developing on the Cephalotus is a sign that they are getting just enough light to start developing color. A bit closer to the light and the Flytraps and Cephalotus will really take off and develop good coloration (My Flytraps are barely an inch from the 12000 lumens I have over them).

sorry I didnt have internet for a few days so I was unable to respond... Some answers to your questions SS does have ADD. He has been evaluated by the school and by doctors. He used to play football and though he talks about it now like it was the best thing in the world... at both practice and games he would pay more attention to the car driving down the street then what was going on with the team. He sort of made one friend on the team but watching their interaction, it looked like the other kid was annoyed by ss. In school last year, several times when I was volunteering or something in school I noticed that he pretty much didnt talk to anyone ... at all. The couple of times I actually did see him talking to other kids... the other kids were picking on him and he was just kind of taking it. ((I've talked to him several times about standing up for himself but it doesnt really sink in)) I also put him in an art class with kids his own age... a local thing sponsored by a church... but still he only plays with the kids significantly younger than he after his class. I have thought myself several times that he might be a little more than just ADD. He is also extremey emotionally immature for his age, there is almost no connection between cause and effect, and (for lack of a better description) zero common sense. One on one with other kids he does so so. He is so immature that once his gaurd is down for a minute he says or does something "dorky" or "annoying" and the other kid doesnt want to hang around him or tolerates him until someone else comes along and then ss is kind of left in the dust There arent any family members his age, really there arent any other kids in the family other then ours. They are the only great grands nieces nephews...etc. I have my younger brothers and cousin. They are all over 18 but he really likes hanging out with them. He really enjoys music and wants to learn to play the drums. But that is kind of a solitary thing (music classes). I am considering putting him into beginning band camp this summer which is at the middle school he will be going to with kids he will be going to school with next year. I thought this might give him the advantage of getting to know some people before school starts.

Thank you, everyone! You're all awesome :) SS isn't terribly excited about it, but he is not unhappy either. He's kind of in a neutral camp. Remember how BM has an almost-one-year-old? SS knows what babies are actually about, and knows that it doesn't interest him, LOL. So he's happy, but doesn't have the same misconceptions about how AWESOME having a baby around is as he had when his mom was pregnant. Which I'm oddly glad about - it won't be our baby that disillusioned him :)

Cat, it's terrible that you have tried, but your DH has such a bad attitude. It seems like your DH is one of the "My children are perfect, and how dare you find fault with them... Oh, but your child sucks" people. That's too bad, because of all the stress it has put on your marriage. JNM, I thought you shared that philosophy! A__ and I have actually talked about this give and take relationship... After a particularly rough patch, when he was being rather bratty, and I got pretty snippy with him, I explained that I love him no matter what, but that we choose how we treat each other, so we should choose to treat each other well. He seemed to think this was quite reasonable and succinctly said "So if I try to be very nice to you, then you try to be very nice to me? I think I can try to do that" So we had some hugs and kisses and moved on. We renew this conversation every few months. Kathline - Thanks, but I'm not all-nice-all-the-time... Here's how: BM can frustrate me, and I get upset when she doesn't want to "wear her mom hat" because her "GF hat" or her "work hat" get in the way. When she wears her "mom hat," she is a very good mom and she wants what's best for A__, but sometimes she makes me mad because I see A__ getting the short end of the stick. Overall, she's not so bad though, and she's not mean or spiteful and she doesn't use A__ as a weapon. Part of why I decided to take an active role in A__'s ADHD management was selfish: I thought "Wow, I'm really nuts about my BF, and I like his son's big heart and goofy personality... but if he's always this out of control, I don't think I can handle being in this relationship... :( " So I learned about ADHD, and I talked to FDH, suggested things that could help A__ and tried to keep positive, focusing on good days, not bad, and looking for his improvements, not his weak points... Meanwhile I worked towards a loving relationship with A__, making sure that I let him set the pace and the boundaries of relationship growth. But it wasn't JUST for A__ or FDH, it was for me too. There are days (A__'s bad days) when I think "BLARGH!! He's being such a brat today!!" but of course I don't say "Why are you being such a sh17ball?! Stop it!" Instead I try to help him have a good day and shift the focus to that. Sometimes after a few bad days in a row, my patience gives out and I get cranky with him (mostly my tone changes to short and snippy) but I try to solve things before it hits that. It helps a lot that I can be honest and frank with FDH about how I feel about A__. I often have A__ when FDH is at work (BM knows and is fine with this) and I know that it's safe to tell FDH "It's a wonderful day! A__ is being a perfect little angel today! He's a treat to have around!" or "Average day. A__'s being mostly good, with a little bit of lip and attitude, but overall well-behaved" or "It's not a good day! A__ is being a total nightmare and I am counting down the seconds until bedtime." I don't think A__ does things just to get people riled... Although I do think he does things for negative attention. He doesn't always know the way to look for positive attention, and positive attention isn't reinforced in other parts of his life... So I try not to take it personally, and try to focus on ways to look for positive attention. But if I'm very honest, this is something I don't like about him. But I guess my view of A__ is that he's got a big heart and is a thoughtful kid, who has a complicated life and a lot of challenges. The complicated life isn't his fault, as long as he is trying to be his best in light of his challenges, I am happy!