Things of Ether

A little while ago, my son sent me a text: "I'm going to get my things of ether and head over tonight." He immediately corrected it to "*together", but I couldn't help replying, "Okay. And I agree it's best to travel without your things of ether." He had been trying to decide whether to come home tonight or tomorrow for his break, and I'm glad he's coming tonight. I have spent the day grading papers and planning for tomorrow's early morning class, and I'm disappointed with my students. I could tell after grading their previous essays that I may have over-estimated their capabilities; rather than totally "dumbing it down", I made myself more clear in my instructions, explaining the essay requirements and giving them a hard copy with details, as well as posting the assignment on our online academic tool. What else could I do? I gave them hard-copy examples of MLA format. Still, they didn't format their papers properly and didn't complete all aspects of the assignment. (Two of them did, so I know at least they were paying attention.) It's very frustrating. I'm not exactly sure what "things of ether" would be, but the phrase sounds nice; a soothing balm after a day of banging my head against the wall. I want some.