Yesterday I was checking my 10-year-old son's homework and he unknowingly paid me a compliment. My rule with checking homework is that I will check it twice (at most) and after that it is my son's responsibility to make corrections. I don't give him the answers, but I tell him which answers are incorrect and help him problem-solve to find the answer (if he asks).
While checking his homework yesterday, one of his friends stopped by to see if he could play. My son left the front door wide open and he was talking to his friend through the screen door. My son was more focused on hurrying through his homework so he could go outside, rather than listening to what I was telling him he needed to do (typical 10-year-old behavior).
After checking his homework twice, he went back to his friend and said he had to write a complete sentence on one final problem. His friend said, "Well I just wrote..... but I didn't have to write a complete sentence."
My son replied, "Yeah. Well you don't have MY mom checking your homework." (THAT was a compliment for me!)
I have expectations of my children and maybe I am a stickler at times. They don't usually like it (especially with homework), but I know in my heart that some day they will thank me. SOME day...
