Why You Should Check Backpacks When They Come Home

I try to give my kids the benefit of the doubt. I know they aren’t angels, but I like to live in a perfect world where my children will not lie to me when I ask them a question. I am deluding myself, I know. Especially when it comes to homework.

Yesterday when they came home I did not check their backpacks. Tre hardly ever has homework – he’s in kindergarten. His homework is to learn his ABCs and his 123s and that’s about it.

Jonathan always has homework. Except for last week. I think his teachers were giving them all a chance to get the vacationitis out of their brains before trying to get them back into student-mode.

I didn’t check backpacks for notes or homework yesterday. I was out of cigarettes, freezing my ass off from being outside with them for about an hour and I was in my commando mode where I wanted to obliterate anything in my sight.

So I wake up this morning – late – and rush to get them out of bed and get ready for school and I check the backpacks while they are stumbling around in the dark trying to get their little brains working.

And flip immediately into Pissed Off Mommy Mode when I see the Jonathan’s planner. Not only does he have a report due on Snakes this Friday, but he had spelling homework and math homework to do.

Pissed Off Mommy Mode goes straight to Extremely Mad Seeing Red Mommy Mode when I see his daily report from his teacher. Apparently he told another student to “Shut Up Before I Smack You In The Mouth” (I wonder where ever he heard that?) and proceeded to tell Ms. Hicks that he did not have to and would not listen to anything she told him to do.

Now, I know Jonathan has a bit of trouble with authority figures. He is the only child in HISTORY to only last 2 hours in Kindergarten on his first day of school before being expelled for the rest of the year. Seriously.

But he seemed to be doing so well. Guess he had us all fooled.

So first thing this morning, I’m reading the riot act to him, and his brother is sitting there eating his cereal looking all innocent with this little smile on his face and glancing at Jonathan who is practically (and then is) in tears.

So today when he gets home from school I’m checking his backpack the minute he is off the bus. I also sent an e-mail to his teacher to make sure he apologizes to Ms. Hicks for being disrespectful. And he is doing his homework for the entire week tonight and then he is going to bed with no television and no games at all.

The Mad White Woman has spoken. (for those of you who did not know me “way back when” The Mad White Woman was the name of my first blog)

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