These two are such a riot. They irritate each other for fun, but they are seldom found more than three feet from one another. They're only 2/7 of the population, yet they produce approximately 90% of the noise in our little compound. And, this is how they learn. (Shortly after this picture was taken, they learned that if man was supposed to use his elbows to play the piano, the keys would be elbow-sized. They thought that was funny.)We had a productive day, but it took ALL DAY to do it. James was still doing Latin at eight tonight, but he pulled it off and finished in time to have cookies with everyone else. John was still doing spelling around the same time. Same eleventh-hour save. I guess I shouldn't say "was still doing" - I should say "finally got around to doing". These kids like to liven things up with a little pressure now and then. Nothing says, "Yeah, I'm really serious" quite like, "I'll eat your cookies if you don't hurry up."
And no, I wasn't flogging them all day long to complete three conjugations in four tenses and a 100-word pre-test. This was one page. Each. Basic review stuff. If any of you tell me this is what testosterone does to the mind, I. will. cry. okay? Yeah, just so's we're clear, here. ;-)
It reminds me of a joke I need to share with the boys...
A man entered a marathon. His first one, ever. He wasn't fast, and he wasn't much of a runner, but he was determined to do it. He came in dead last, a solid 10 hours behind the first place runner, who clocked in at a little over two hours. Dead tired from running all day, the man slipped into a pub on his way home to enjoy a cold one before heading home to collapse. He hadn't been there long before another man entered the pub with a group of people, and was instantly recognized as the day's marathon winner.
Tired as he was, the man just had to meet this man who could run a marathon in two and a half hours. He inched up to him, introduced himself and offered to buy the man a drink in honor of the day's win. The winning runner asked if he'd seen the race, to which the man replied, "Oh, no, I was in the race. I don't know how you do it so quickly, and still have the energy to go out with friends." The runner asked how the man did in the race. "Oh. It took me twelve and a half hours." Sheepishly, he added, "And I'm exhausted."
The runner smiled, clapped the man on the back and said, "Well, then I think you should be the one we're toasting tonight."
Baffled, the man asked why.
"To be perfectly honest," said the runner, "You must have an incredible amount of fortitude. Personally, I can't imagine doing *anything* for twelve and a half hours!"
... I wonder if they'll get that joke...
Ah, and it's time for bed! Kiss those babies! And smile - it's contagious.
~Dy
4 comments:
Is that a joke or (oh help, can't think!) one of those stories with a moral? It's a good story, except I can walk a marathon in 8 hours. I wouldn't include that extra bit of information when you tell the story, though.
Oh, and I think you are the one who deserves the fortitude award. I know what it's like to have kids still doing school work at that hour. If you only got as far as, "Finish up quickly or I'll eat your cookies," you are an extremely patient woman. Either that or my kids had more, uh, misapplied fortitude than yours;o)
Probably both. It was told to me, oh, eeek! sixteen years ago, when I had the lack of foresight to pick a runner as a roommate. As you know, I. don't. run. The joke was told after a particularly grueling afternoon "jog". So I was still wheezing and trying to get my trachea to open back up while my horribly fit roommate knocked back a cold IC Light and tried to convince me that if I'd run faster, it wouldn't be this painful. Bah. Eventually, I just gave up and moved out of state. ;-) Not being a runner, myself, the poor guy could have taken three days to run it, and I wouldn't have known the difference.
But honestly, it just shouldn't take this long... should it? (Today was better, but today we left the house at 10:45, and didn't do a full day's work.)
Dy
LOVE that picture ~ what a lovely feeling it shares with us out here in blog world.
Thanks for sharing.
Create a great day!
Pam
Well, I will share that story with Trav. Who probably won't get it, but he Should because he is another who can drag his lessons (most often math) out for absolutely Mind Boggling lengths of time.
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