Jack really, really, hates homework. So much so that he sometimes forgets to show his mother proper respect. Well he happened to be having a hard day last week and was being less than agreeable for Mindy; I wasn't making much headway over the phone either, so I left work early to come home and "encourage" him to do his homework. When I arrived he refused to do it still, so I sat him down in a quiet room upstairs and brought him a notebook and pencil with instructions to write a letter to Mr. Nicholas about why he wouldn't be doing any more homework. When I checked in on him 15 minutes later he still hadn't started on the letter; he seemed even more dead set against that than the homework itself. I reminded him that he would not have to write the letter if he did his homework. But before he could eat dinner he would (1) have to finish his homework and (2) write an apology note to Mindy. After we jumped the homework hurdle, he got whiny again when I reminded him about the apology letter to his mother. I left him to his task as I went down to the kitchen to help finish preparing dinner (I think Mindy was making her awesome bratwurst sausage and pasta dish). Anyway, just as the the family sat for dinner, I
went in to check on Jack again. He told me that he was bad and that he didn't deserve to eat, and that he wasn't hungry anyway. I reminded him that he is a good boy, but he sometimes forgets to be good to his mother. I asked that he come join the family at the table even if he wasn't going to eat. He folded up the paper he was drawing on and came down stairs after a minute. When he came down he handed his mother this note. Mindy started to smile, then laugh; soon all was forgiven and in the end, Jack got his food. Rock 'n Role!
