Again and Again

My daughter has a knack for bringing up the most random topics while we're in the car.

"Mom, when I'm older will I have to do tons of really boring homework?"

She's four. I've never heard her use the phrase "tons of," and I have no idea where she heard about homework.

I tried to downplay the "boring" aspect. I said, "No, honey, homework isn't always boring. It can be quite interesting and fun."

"But isn't tons of homework boring?"

"No," I said. "Homework can actually be quite fun." I could see this was going to be one of those conversations where I found myself answering the same question again and again. And I was hating myself for not being entirely truthful.

"Well, what about tons of it. Is that really boring? Tons of it, mom!"

Of course it is, I think, but I'm not about to cloud her perception of school and learning two years before I put her on the big yellow school bus and send her off to first grade. "No, it's not really boring. Where did you hear about homework being boring?"

"Annie told me." A 14-year-old babysitter. I make a mental note to move Annie to the bottom of my list of preferred babysitters. "She told me big kids get tons of homework and it's boring."

"Annie's a teenager," I tell her. "She thinks everything is boring. Besides, it's just her opinion." I'm quite sure my daughter doesn't know what "opinion" means, but I was prepared to explain.

"She said big kids get tons of homework that's boring," my daughter insisted.

Pause.

"Mom? What does boring mean?"

___________


Rain today. Again.