Both the Boys are now well and truly back in school; we're just over a week into the new term, and things seem to be settling down considerably after a summer of European nomadism.
Boy #1 is chafing a little under the yoke of daily homework but is getting on with it manfully - most of the time. He's been given 100 multiplication questions each day this week so far, but before you gasp at a still 8 year old dealing with that AND an English comprehension exercise, you should know that they were all on the 2 x table. Consequently, he breezed through them in less than 15 minutes which a) completely validated my efforts to keep his maths head intact over the summer, if I do say so myself and b) led to an admission on his part that actually, perhaps the time we spent doing that was not completely wasted. That, ladies and gentlemen, is a result.
Boy #2 is now well into Grade 1 (Year 2 for those in the British system) and whilst I have yet to see evidence of homework for him, there are other ways in which he is showing his new 'grown-up' status. Joining the local soccer league for the first time last week was one of them; if I've ever seen a small boy prouder to put on shin pads, football boots, and team strip before racing around the pitch for 40 minutes or so as one of a tight knot of players who followed the ball everywhere like flies around honey (whilst the rest of the pitch was eerily empty), I can't remember it.
There are other ways he seems to be growing up, too. Yesterday he told me that the girls in his class use 'the kissing defence'. I've yet to get to the bottom of this one; defence against what, I wonder? Boys being boys? Or are the girls in question following that old adage that the best form of defence is attack? Who knows. Whatever, it put me in mind of a conversation a friend had with her 5 year old son recently.
"I'm going to marry Susie" he told her seriously. "Really, darling? That's nice." "Yes. Well - she's not who I originally wanted to marry. First I wanted to marry Paul. But we changed our minds when we realised that if we did that, we would have to adopt."
Thankyou very much, I'll be here all week...
Boy #1 is chafing a little under the yoke of daily homework but is getting on with it manfully - most of the time. He's been given 100 multiplication questions each day this week so far, but before you gasp at a still 8 year old dealing with that AND an English comprehension exercise, you should know that they were all on the 2 x table. Consequently, he breezed through them in less than 15 minutes which a) completely validated my efforts to keep his maths head intact over the summer, if I do say so myself and b) led to an admission on his part that actually, perhaps the time we spent doing that was not completely wasted. That, ladies and gentlemen, is a result.
Boy #2 is now well into Grade 1 (Year 2 for those in the British system) and whilst I have yet to see evidence of homework for him, there are other ways in which he is showing his new 'grown-up' status. Joining the local soccer league for the first time last week was one of them; if I've ever seen a small boy prouder to put on shin pads, football boots, and team strip before racing around the pitch for 40 minutes or so as one of a tight knot of players who followed the ball everywhere like flies around honey (whilst the rest of the pitch was eerily empty), I can't remember it.
There are other ways he seems to be growing up, too. Yesterday he told me that the girls in his class use 'the kissing defence'. I've yet to get to the bottom of this one; defence against what, I wonder? Boys being boys? Or are the girls in question following that old adage that the best form of defence is attack? Who knows. Whatever, it put me in mind of a conversation a friend had with her 5 year old son recently.
"I'm going to marry Susie" he told her seriously. "Really, darling? That's nice." "Yes. Well - she's not who I originally wanted to marry. First I wanted to marry Paul. But we changed our minds when we realised that if we did that, we would have to adopt."
Thankyou very much, I'll be here all week...
I did laugh at Boy 2 and his football antics - it sounds just like me and my netball group. We all just chase the ball around the court like a bunch of over excited puppies :)
ReplyDeleteKissing defense sounds like a reverse 'Georgie Porgie' to me!!! :D
ReplyDeleteROFL to the friend's son's reply!! So practical!! My son asked one of his friend's mom's permission to marry her daughter at the age of 5. Here's the URL if you're interested: http://momofbigalittlea.blogspot.com/2012/07/a-suitable-boy.html
We had a long discussion about girls on the way home from Little Guy's first day in 4th grade (Year 5). We have decided that they are rude and immature, but he's trying to find a way to communicate that without them rushing off to "tell". Sigh....
ReplyDeleteOh dear oh dear! I did laugh at this one!!!!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy it while you can....Velvet is well into teenagerdom and I'm exhausted from trying to keep up with her male interests!