A tough math day

It was a tough math day, but a productive day otherwise. I taught JD his lessons, did my part-time job for 2 1/2 hours, nuked dinner in the microwave, cleaned up, made brownies for us, and baked a cake for the Associational meeting that will be held at our church on Tuesday.

We read Saturday’s devotion today instead of the one dated 18 Oct. Saturday was National Dictionary Day. Of course we all know the importance of meaning what we say. But have you given any thought to meaning what you say? (It’s deep…I know.) James 5:12 says, “…let your yes be yes, and your no be no…“ I referred to Jeff-a-pedia because when I read James 5:7-12 for the whole story I read that James was telling folks to be patient and persevere, and I still didn’t understand “Let your yes mean yes and your no mean no.” Jeff said, “Basically, don’t cross your fingers and say yes, or swear on the bible and then lie.” For the most part, I have always been a firm believer in telling the truth. (**side story** Does anyone want to go back in time to say the early 1800’s where your word was as good as money?)

Today in math we re-learned multiplying decimals. In a perfect world, the TV would be on cartoons in the background while we diligently learn our newest math concept. As we all know this is a less than perfect world and the TV was requested to be off BEFORE our devotion. JD obeyed turning the TV off but held some pent up anger through the devotion and it spewed all over our math time. During the beginning of our lesson I requested an attitude change, not once, but twice. I was being talked to like a disliked “classmate.” The momma-has-had-enough-button was flashing on the back of my head but before I had a chance to turn so JD could see for himself I exploded. I picked up my clipboard and pounded it on the computer table. I gave JD enough warning to get to his room before my head spun around on my shoulders. After a short break I called him back. He crept into his seat and only 1/3rd cheeked it. I got mad again and said, “Go back to your room. You look like I’m getting ready to throw you through the wall.” I called him back again and apologized for losing my temper THAT bad. He eventually apologized to me for treating me like a former classmate. We eventually “got over it” and pressed on through our lesson

Today in science we did the dreaded tape-the-paper-on-the-window lesson. The one where the boys go in one room and the girls go in another. We learned about both the boy’s and girl’s reproductive organs and their functions. That covered: sperm, eggs, testes, ovaries, and ovulation. Then, we talked about puberty and the expected change for both boys and girls. The last topic we covered was acne. OK, so I know everyone wants to ask, “How’d that go for ya?” It actually went well. There was the initial giggles, hiding of the face, and blushing but he composed himself and actually learned.

I tried to make language arts fun today . My grandmother recently had a fall that landed her in the hospital and ultimately scored her a hip surgery. I asked JD to compose a letter to her. I was dictating while he spoke. JD at one point recognized that she had only broken one bone in her life. He said, “Guess that makes her a tough old bird.” He really meant no disrespect, and the truth is SHE IS! (Nana and mom, if you’re reading this…I am proud to be part of a tough old bird family.) After we wrote that letter and drew a “Get Well” message I had him write to our child from Africa that we sponsor monthly. Occasionally the organization sends a card for us to sign and send. I had JD write the message to Happy this year. Maybe one day we’ll meet him.

I had my cleaning job to do today so I had JD do his 30 minute reading at the house I clean. We did not do a social studies today because I took that extra time to talk about the reproductive system and answer any questions.