Sew what, Sarah

I had forgotten how much time homework can take out of the day.

I'm not talking about the normal stuff I've been used to with the kids. Spelling words, writing sentences, coloring. Oh, no. I'm talking about big time, grown up, actual work homework.

Tommy had piles of homework last night, poor kid, and secretly, I'm really glad for it. No, I'm not happy he had to stay up late and slave away but it did make him realize that school is work and you have to put in the time for the reward.

Last night's toughest homework by far was math. I don't know if any of you have a 6th grader but they're doing pre-algebra in 6th grade now. Big time stuff. Luckily for my kid, I like math but it has taken me three weeks to figure out how to help my son learn it. Last night, though, something really clicked for him and, watching him finally get it after weeks of stressing and struggling, was awe inspiring.

I'm still really pumped from it.

His homework centered around converting mixed numbers into decimals and vice versa and I could tell that he hadn't picked it up in class at all. (That's one of the toughest things about his class being big and full of boys--the teacher doesn't really have a lot of time left for one on one tutoring.) Tommy being Tommy, he just figured out a method that looked something like what the teacher had written on the board and ran with it. Unfortunately, it was the wrong method so we had to sit together and work through all of it again.

At first, he was irritated and frustrated (who wouldn't be?) that all of the work he'd put in was wrong but about an hour into doing it the right way, you could tell that he really got it. Don't tell him this but at one point, he even looked like he was enjoying it. I know, weird. :)**

We were up past his bedtime at the dining room table working on that homework but I know he's proud of the work he put in and I know he'll be proud when he gets it back and it has a big "A" on it. He's worried about his grades but I'm not, really, because he's working. He's trying and he's figuring it out. He'll get it and I'll be proud of the grades he gets on his report card because my boy is really working for them.

**I was enjoying it, too. :) If you're looking for homework help and aids, I'm adding a section to the amazon store that has some good ones!

Until tomorrow, enjoy today!

Love from Sarah