Parental Homework

I can remember being in school... Elementary through High School. I HATED homework with a passion. It prevented me from having fun when I got home, prevented socialization, tv watching, book reading, playing, etc. It forced me to interact with frustrated parents, exhausted after a long days work, who didn't understand "New Math". I really thought that there couldn't be anything worse about school (aside from tests) than homework. I looked forward to the day when I would graduate from school and be free from homework FOREVER!!! Boy was I an IDIOT!

I now have children of my own and homework has come back to haunt my adult life! I realize that the homework assigned to me as a child was NEVER for me - it was a sick and cruel joke played on innocent and exausted parents - and now I am one.

I often sit with my girls to do homework after a long day at work. I get to suffer the humiliation of admitting that I have no idea what to do. Or, if by some miracle I do understand the homework and attempt to explain it to my girls, I get to hear such lovely comments as "That's not how my teacher did it", or "Don't you understand?" or even "That's not right!!!"

I suppose when I am old(er) and grey(er) I'll get to hear my grandkids say "No grandma - that's not how my teacher taught us!".

Just my thoughts on homework!