First do homework, then climb the walls

It's one of those "mommy" phrases you never expect to hear yourself saying. And yet you say it. And it works!

Sofia gets homework packets from the sub-sep teacher each week. And each week, Sofia and I argue about doing her homework. At the end of each week, I stack yet another un-touched homework packet on the counter.

The problem is that Home is for rest and relaxation. She is completely uninterested in doing more school work when she is home. And if she is uninterested, she is simply NOT going to do it.

So I decided we needed to find an out-of-the-house place that would be The Homework Place.

Well, Tuesday afternoons, Micah meets with the Cantor for Bar Mitzvah lesson ('cause of course he did not want to work with me!). And now that Sam has Ultimate Frisbee practice every afternoon, I couldn't just leave Sofia home with him. So she comes with me.

Of course, she still did not want to do her homework. What she wanted to do was this:

Our synagogue has a lot of decoratively uneven brick walls, especially in the lobby and behind the sanctuary. They are so inviting for my spider-monkey children!

And thus, I uttered those immortal words: "First finish your homework, then you can climb the walls."

She was SO happy. And when she finished, Micah showed her how it's done:

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In other news, we had a WILDLY successful end to the Consecration drama. I was so upset after that first rehearsal, and I decided that it really just was not fair to make her do it. So I did not bring her to the Sunday rehearsal, and I sent an email to the Rabbi, Cantor, and the parents who were organizing.

Wedensday afternoon, a few hours before the last rehearsal, I got a call from one of the moms. It was the BEST phone call I've ever gotten about my daughter.

"Sofia has to participate! She should do just as much as she wants to, and then she can sit down wherever she wants to. She has to be there, she still gets her siddur and certificate."

(I had not known the children were all getting their prayerbooks, including the day school kids. No one ever mentioned that to me.)

So I brought her to rehearsal again after swimming. In the car, I told her she should try, and if she wanted to sit, she could. She told me she would "Just Sit, Listening Ears, Be Quiet."

Well, when we arrived, the kids were practicing, and she RAN straight to her place in line (between two friends), and she stayed up for the entire time they went through the prayers. She even answered when she was supposed to say her name and what she was thankful for (I came behind her to cue her). Then she sat down and watched the rest of the program, quietly.

I was SO proud of her!

She did slightly less better the morning of the event, but she was still fabulous. That girl just knocks me out!

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