My favorite thing about my children is their ability to make me laugh and not take myself so seriously. Since I am their teacher, nurse, bus driver, and principal I often need their dose of humor to keep me in check.
Yesterday as I stood at the whiteboard in my dining room ready to go over their math work, my son announces, "I didn't do number 3." I sigh and remind him that not doing it isn't an option, to which his sister pipes up, "Me either."
What? Both of them didn't do the problem and they were so nonchalant, so I launch into my lecture on why it is important to at least try, but they both assured me they didn't understand the problem. To solve the problem they had to use two formulas. So, I dutifully stop lecturing and turn to the whiteboard to begin working the problem when I hear the dreaded question,
"So, when are we ever going to use this stuff in the real world?"
And, trust me, I play it just like a true teacher. I assure them the problem is useful. But, they press on,
"Have you ever used this formula before?"
These are the times it'd be nice just to be the bus driver. Because honestly, I've never used either formula before and I honestly don't think I have ever laid eyes on either formula even through 19 years of schooling. (Hopefully, the kids aren't reading this.)
Just as I am finishing up the problem, which takes up the whole board, husband comes through. I am now explaining to the kids how SATISFYING it is to get to the end of a problem and feel the atta-boy from a job well done. You know kind of like watching Dr. Pimple Popper! I ask husband, "Don't you agree?"
Husband didn't have to say anything, because one look at the math worked on the board made his eyes get round and the kids giggle. But, he couldn't stop there, "I'm not sure I've ever seen that mess before!"
Sigh. I may need to hire a new superintendent for this school.
Of course, this was all after I asked the kids to write about their adaptation class at the zoo last week. I knew I was in trouble when my daughter's paragraph had a title, "The Day I Was Tortured at the Zoo." Don't worry, it only got worse. By the end, she was bemoaning the fact that the alligator she petted simply wasn't large enough to make alligator bites out of!
A joyful heart is good medicine, But, a broken spirit dries up the bones. Proverbs 17:22
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