Remind me: why did I have kids?
Sometimes I hate my kids. Not "hate" as in "hate crimes" or "hate mail", more like hate as in an intense dislike of squash or peas. But still, sometimes I fervently dislike them. Mostly my kids are nice so when they're not, it shows.
Number 1, the tweener was just whining about maaaathhhh and how it's soooooooo haaarrdd and how she's sooooooo baddddd at it. And of course "everyone else is really good at it". In fairness, she is taking accelerated algebra and she's no math natural. She has to work hard--which she often forgets. She doesn't have to work much to do well in any other class, so she feels that she's the butt of a giant cosmic joke. After all, everyone is equally good at everything, so why should she suffer? She is smart enough not to go the "it's nooooottt faairrrr" route.
So she whined and I was not completely sympathetic. I said something like "Just go to X period and you'll be fine. That's what works for you. The teacher will explain it and you'll be all set." Oh, dummy me. (X Period, btw, is the period that follows dismissal and it's the time when if you don't understand something, you go and get help. I suppose "study hall" was what they called it in my day). Apparently, this time my advice was faulty--not just faulty--but enraging. Usually I have a hard time keeping a completely straight face during these exchanges but when she's really upset she goes stomping up the stairs. She stomped, I sighed.
And then Kid 2 gets into the act. I asked a friend to Photoshop a pic of him and a friend. In the pic, he's standing with his dance partner at his ballroom dance recital and it's very cute. He looks smiley and proud and she looks cute and friendly. But there's a teacher's torso right in the middle of the picture. It looks like a giant navy blue tree trunk. So my friend took out the teacher and put a white background in. "What a fail! I'm not getting with that! We look ridiculous!" And I think, "what a putz!" I also think "when did my son start talking like Jimmy Walker on Good Times?" Sigh.....
Number 1, the tweener was just whining about maaaathhhh and how it's soooooooo haaarrdd and how she's sooooooo baddddd at it. And of course "everyone else is really good at it". In fairness, she is taking accelerated algebra and she's no math natural. She has to work hard--which she often forgets. She doesn't have to work much to do well in any other class, so she feels that she's the butt of a giant cosmic joke. After all, everyone is equally good at everything, so why should she suffer? She is smart enough not to go the "it's nooooottt faairrrr" route.
So she whined and I was not completely sympathetic. I said something like "Just go to X period and you'll be fine. That's what works for you. The teacher will explain it and you'll be all set." Oh, dummy me. (X Period, btw, is the period that follows dismissal and it's the time when if you don't understand something, you go and get help. I suppose "study hall" was what they called it in my day). Apparently, this time my advice was faulty--not just faulty--but enraging. Usually I have a hard time keeping a completely straight face during these exchanges but when she's really upset she goes stomping up the stairs. She stomped, I sighed.
And then Kid 2 gets into the act. I asked a friend to Photoshop a pic of him and a friend. In the pic, he's standing with his dance partner at his ballroom dance recital and it's very cute. He looks smiley and proud and she looks cute and friendly. But there's a teacher's torso right in the middle of the picture. It looks like a giant navy blue tree trunk. So my friend took out the teacher and put a white background in. "What a fail! I'm not getting with that! We look ridiculous!" And I think, "what a putz!" I also think "when did my son start talking like Jimmy Walker on Good Times?" Sigh.....
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