More stories out of school...

Duncan told us that his beloved teacher, Miss Klauzar, was cranky today. Apparently the class was very rowdy. We asked Duncan if he was part of the rowdiness too (remember those three Think Times in the last two weeks...). His answer? "Actually, I was surprisingly well-behaved. For me."

What exactly does that mean? I'm thinking it's bad news for Miss Klauzar.

Jonathon doesn't often get mentioned in these blogs, not because he doesn't say witty things, but because his wit is so dry it's hard for me to express it on paper (as it were). Or maybe I'm just afraid that he's old enough that if he were ever to read my blog (or be approached by somebody else who had read it) he would be embarrassed. I don't usually try to embarrass my children, but tonight the boy is not sleeping under my protective benevolence.

Tonight as the kids were getting ready for bed an hour later than they should have been (one of their parents is a sucker for letting them watch Star Wars cartoons) Jonathon came in to get his reading log signed (due tomorrow--he hadn't filled it out yet because he lost track of time after five hours. His teacher only requires 2 1/2 hours, and doesn't give extra credit if they read more--that last bit added with a definite tone of annoyance in Jonathon's voice). He was also holding a math paper. We asked him what it was and he said it was homework that was due tomorrow. We looked at each other then looked at him and asked him why it wasn't already done. "I was bored, so I got distracted, and I forgot. I'll do it now." He finished it in less than three minutes.

The observation that I'm dying to make to him, but I know he won't undestand, is that this afternoon, when the boredom was at its height (Jonathon and Duncan were watching TV from the couch in the living room upstairs, while the TV is against the opposite side of the house in the family room downstairs) he might not have been so bored if he had actually been doing his homework. (I have to say here that if it was Duncan and math homework, the child would have been bored to tears. But this is Jonathon, and he loves math, and really only gets bored with it when it's too easy. Show off.)

In the good old days, you didn't get to be bored until AFTER all your work was done.