4:30. Asking Sonny to do his homework when he is this grumpy is like asking… um, a very cranky and tired little boy to do something he doesn’t want to do. I promise I will sit with him, but it makes no difference. He scribbles a answer, and then says, “I scribbled! I’m sloppy!,” and then, in self-punishment, scribbles some more. Oh yeah, I can see we’re going to get lots of math done.
I give up on addition and move over to the second worksheet. He has to write ONE or TWO by each item, depending on its quantity. Sonny counts that there are two kittens in the first picture, puts the pencil on the paper, and writes JFAJKLFSKLDGJIEIJFHAHF, or at least that’s what it looks like.
I decide that maybe we won’t do homework right now.
5:45. After dinner we try one more time, and it’s like maybe my wife performed an exorcism on Sonny while I was checking e-mail. Totally different kid. He writes ONE and TWO as appropriate, and they are legible if not neat. He accepts praise from me with grandiose high-fives. We move over to addition, where he gets stuff wrong but doesn’t mind when I correct him. We work it out. He ends the session proud of himself and ready to play Star Wars, his promised reward. He is happy for the rest of the evening.
Note to future self: Remember the power of giving up and trying again later.
