I was sitting there, listening to the lass complain about her “stupid homework” that was “so easy” and I was thinking “I’ve heard this song before…”
The biggest surprise of the, still young, school year is that the lass hates her homework. We’re talking about the girl who, while in kindergarten, would bring home a homework book meant to be done over the course of a week or so and complete it that evening. Last year, she actually wanted homework and complained that she didn’t get enough of it. I documented the boy’s homework struggles last year right here so there’s no need to rehash the details. The main point is, he didn’t like it.
So now, after a few days of homework, the boy has been no trouble and the lass has been a royal pain in the ass. Her attitude has been so poor about it that she’s gotten herself sent to bed early two nights in a row. How bad was it? At one point this morning, while she was arguing with us about her doing her homework, the boy actually warned her to stop before she got herself in trouble. That’s how furiously she was digging the hole for herself.
If there’s one thing parenting has constantly reminded me it’s the capacity for surprise that kids hold. In that sense, I shouldn’t be surprised by this turn of events. But I am. The Wife and I spent most of the summer wondering what how the boy would handle homework this year, especially after last year. We never seriously considered the lass because she’d never given us reason to.
Yet here we are. Luckily, it’s early days. If things can change one way, they can change the other. We’ll just have to exercise a little extra patience.