The HOMEWORK MONSTER

As a teacher,  I have had multiple opportunities to teach children who resist the art of learning.  Maybe school is hard, maybe they aren't the most motivated people, maybe life is just larger than it needs to be and their little brains just can't function under stress.  I have met this challenge with love in my heart and pile of point cards and motivators and charts and prize boxes....Just ask me! I can come up with a plan for your child in 15 minutes.  Tried and true!  I ROCK!

....And then there are these children that call my home their home.  My offspring.  My beautiful wonderful boys.  My beautiful wonderful children that given homework and a long day turn into the most horrid of beings.  A being that strikes pure dread into my heart.  THE HOMEWORK MONSTER.  No chart, prize or encouraging word can thwart this monster.   It is unimaginable to anyone but a parent.  Teachers who do not have children cannot even imagine the hideous thing that children can turn into when they have even the slightest amount of homework.  It can happen to even the very nicest of children...I have heard the stories....

Now I am not blaming the teachers...my children can turn at the mere prospect of having to do homework...the monster can lie dormant for months and the monster can come out of nowhere....one minute a happy go lucky boy sits in my living room and the next....I can't stand it.

There is no reasoning with a homework monster.  The work cannot be done....it's too hard, too long, and most definitely unfair.  There is no way a homework monster can concentrate and they definitely do not want help...except when they do...which is almost always right after they say they don't.  It is confusing.  The room spins....monsters need breaks, they need snacks, they want you to just set the alarm so they can get up early and do it....(this is a trap by the way).   And then...the dust settles....resignation takes hold...and the work gets done....And it leaves you shaking and clenching teeth.....and they skip off like nothing happened....

This is why I think there is chocolate in the world....and also possibly alcohol........and why, when parents speak of a rough night at the dinner table doing homework...I pat them on the arm and say "I Understand.."