Hello, again.
Oh, what to say, where to start? so much to say but it is already past my bedtime. To get to work on time I get up at 4:30 am. & am on the road between 5 & 5:15. Oh, I could leave later, and do sometimes, but I hate the significantly heavier traffic then. I commute about 45 miles. I used to carpool, but he quit. The stress of the job & the cost of gas for the commute added up to "not worth it" to him, and if I had a new baby like he did, I'd probably have made a similar decision. But my babies are almost grown...yeah, only 7 more years until the youngest graduates from high school... yes I exaggerated on the "almost." And I've caught myself a lot lately telling time like my father did. Here's an example it's 10:10 & he'd say, "It's 10:30! What are you doing out of bed?" Except it really wasn't a question. You know how some people say, "When he says, "jump", we ask, " how high?" Well with Dad, we didn't ask how high, we just jumped as high as we could & prayed it was at least ok; there would be no reassuring, "Well, I know you at least tried your best."
You see, Dad was smart. No, that is an understatement. He thought trigonometry was common sense & geometry was elementary. He seemed to be able to do anything that needed done, and he didn't go online, or watch HGTV to study how first. He did eat quite a bit of pie with the town's old fogeys at the local diner across the street from the hardware store & lumber yard, though. It has occurred to me lately, that Dad just didn't know how smart he was. He just thought the rest of the planet was stupid, and didn't mind letting us know. Oh, I don't recall him calling any one stupid. But the attitude with which he would do things in 5 seconds that we hadn't figured out in 5 minutes, or 50 minutes (if he ever waited that long) let us know. Another comment was, "Just got to be smarter than the average________" & no, bear doesn't fill in the blank. Screwdriver, 2X4, nail, hammer, pvc fitting, lawn mower, lightswitch etc are the words that fill in the blank.
Sometimes I catch myself thinking these things and almost saying them, but I've started making certain that I preface it with, "About now, Dad would say....." & then I let my kids know that I didn't like it, and that whatever they were struggling with can be frustrating.
I learned recently (oh, ok about 2 years ago now, but I just got reminded 2 months ago) that I too am "intelligent." There is an IQ test on tickle. My brother who could & can always beat me at chess & can memorize websites (mostly Conservative Republican ones) that contradict my every thought, was impressed with his score & told me to take the test. I did and beat his scores, which tickled me plenty. I scored in the 90-99% ranges on all the categories. I think my IQ number was 137...(I'm awful at remembering numbers). The results were recently e-mailed to me about the same time when I was going through old boxes after moving & found old Iowa TEsts of Basic Skills results. For being so smart back then... scoring in the 90-99%ile on most subjects, I didn't realize the difference between percentage & percentile. I knew I did well as a child, I just didn't realize I did better than most people. I always felt stupid... perhaps it was being blonde, or perhaps having the father & brother & mother (she could beat all of us at Scrabble any day) I had... Any way. I had learned when I worked for Sylvan Learning Centers that I was intelligent because of an employment test they gave me, but I forgot until recently. And it is easier for me to... dang this is going to sound egotisitical... be more understanding because now I know that the rest of the world is not "stupid" I'm just more intelligent.
Do you see the difference? My dad just thought the rest of the world was stupid. & we felt insulted by it. Now, I never thought the rest of the world was stupid. I just thought they didn't study some of the things I did. & besides I was stupid about lots too. But when I tell kids for the 500th time that their= they own it, and there = not here & they're = they are, I just keep telling myself, "I know that I learned it the first time around, but then I'm intelligent & learn faster. They need more teaching & studying."
Now I don't think I am smart, because there are many things I still do not know. I have students who are very smart about topics I know nothing about. Some are intelligent and others are just average folk. I am very not smart... i.e. am stupid... about current music, current sports, modern actors, fashions, cars etc. I also read too much as a youth and mispronounce many things like Sartre ( it's just Sart, not Sar-tare or so I was told recently). & by golly I've got lots of things I can say about GW Bush, but I can't poke fun at how he says nuclear, cuz though I don't think I say it like him, I don't think I get it right either. "new clee ur"
Tomorrow I go to school for the first time since Monday. My son has been ill & I've had a substitute. I told my son that even if he is still sick, I must go in for a little while. I have to see what they have & haven't done, make worksheets & real lesson plans. Then I can come back home. He has a cold with a fever; he's almost 14. I've shown him the medicine he can take for too much phlegm & the one for too much fever. He is a better cook than I & he knows how to entertain himself with tv, video games & the computer. & yet I feel like a bad mother. .. putting work before child, despite Proverbs describing the good wife as being in the business world. My son declined an offer to see a doctor today, but I've abided by the pediatrician's rule "don't need to worry about a fever unless it's more than 3 days or has an earache with it" for 16 1/2 years now. & tomorrow will be day 3. Well, I need to at least e-mail my ex, and get some sleep, for what ever may come.
Perhaps next time I'll let you read some of my optimistic cynic attitudes, instead of an explanation that makes me sound like a neurotic geeky snob.
Oh, what to say, where to start? so much to say but it is already past my bedtime. To get to work on time I get up at 4:30 am. & am on the road between 5 & 5:15. Oh, I could leave later, and do sometimes, but I hate the significantly heavier traffic then. I commute about 45 miles. I used to carpool, but he quit. The stress of the job & the cost of gas for the commute added up to "not worth it" to him, and if I had a new baby like he did, I'd probably have made a similar decision. But my babies are almost grown...yeah, only 7 more years until the youngest graduates from high school... yes I exaggerated on the "almost." And I've caught myself a lot lately telling time like my father did. Here's an example it's 10:10 & he'd say, "It's 10:30! What are you doing out of bed?" Except it really wasn't a question. You know how some people say, "When he says, "jump", we ask, " how high?" Well with Dad, we didn't ask how high, we just jumped as high as we could & prayed it was at least ok; there would be no reassuring, "Well, I know you at least tried your best."
You see, Dad was smart. No, that is an understatement. He thought trigonometry was common sense & geometry was elementary. He seemed to be able to do anything that needed done, and he didn't go online, or watch HGTV to study how first. He did eat quite a bit of pie with the town's old fogeys at the local diner across the street from the hardware store & lumber yard, though. It has occurred to me lately, that Dad just didn't know how smart he was. He just thought the rest of the planet was stupid, and didn't mind letting us know. Oh, I don't recall him calling any one stupid. But the attitude with which he would do things in 5 seconds that we hadn't figured out in 5 minutes, or 50 minutes (if he ever waited that long) let us know. Another comment was, "Just got to be smarter than the average________" & no, bear doesn't fill in the blank. Screwdriver, 2X4, nail, hammer, pvc fitting, lawn mower, lightswitch etc are the words that fill in the blank.
Sometimes I catch myself thinking these things and almost saying them, but I've started making certain that I preface it with, "About now, Dad would say....." & then I let my kids know that I didn't like it, and that whatever they were struggling with can be frustrating.
I learned recently (oh, ok about 2 years ago now, but I just got reminded 2 months ago) that I too am "intelligent." There is an IQ test on tickle. My brother who could & can always beat me at chess & can memorize websites (mostly Conservative Republican ones) that contradict my every thought, was impressed with his score & told me to take the test. I did and beat his scores, which tickled me plenty. I scored in the 90-99% ranges on all the categories. I think my IQ number was 137...(I'm awful at remembering numbers). The results were recently e-mailed to me about the same time when I was going through old boxes after moving & found old Iowa TEsts of Basic Skills results. For being so smart back then... scoring in the 90-99%ile on most subjects, I didn't realize the difference between percentage & percentile. I knew I did well as a child, I just didn't realize I did better than most people. I always felt stupid... perhaps it was being blonde, or perhaps having the father & brother & mother (she could beat all of us at Scrabble any day) I had... Any way. I had learned when I worked for Sylvan Learning Centers that I was intelligent because of an employment test they gave me, but I forgot until recently. And it is easier for me to... dang this is going to sound egotisitical... be more understanding because now I know that the rest of the world is not "stupid" I'm just more intelligent.
Do you see the difference? My dad just thought the rest of the world was stupid. & we felt insulted by it. Now, I never thought the rest of the world was stupid. I just thought they didn't study some of the things I did. & besides I was stupid about lots too. But when I tell kids for the 500th time that their= they own it, and there = not here & they're = they are, I just keep telling myself, "I know that I learned it the first time around, but then I'm intelligent & learn faster. They need more teaching & studying."
Now I don't think I am smart, because there are many things I still do not know. I have students who are very smart about topics I know nothing about. Some are intelligent and others are just average folk. I am very not smart... i.e. am stupid... about current music, current sports, modern actors, fashions, cars etc. I also read too much as a youth and mispronounce many things like Sartre ( it's just Sart, not Sar-tare or so I was told recently). & by golly I've got lots of things I can say about GW Bush, but I can't poke fun at how he says nuclear, cuz though I don't think I say it like him, I don't think I get it right either. "new clee ur"
Tomorrow I go to school for the first time since Monday. My son has been ill & I've had a substitute. I told my son that even if he is still sick, I must go in for a little while. I have to see what they have & haven't done, make worksheets & real lesson plans. Then I can come back home. He has a cold with a fever; he's almost 14. I've shown him the medicine he can take for too much phlegm & the one for too much fever. He is a better cook than I & he knows how to entertain himself with tv, video games & the computer. & yet I feel like a bad mother. .. putting work before child, despite Proverbs describing the good wife as being in the business world. My son declined an offer to see a doctor today, but I've abided by the pediatrician's rule "don't need to worry about a fever unless it's more than 3 days or has an earache with it" for 16 1/2 years now. & tomorrow will be day 3. Well, I need to at least e-mail my ex, and get some sleep, for what ever may come.
Perhaps next time I'll let you read some of my optimistic cynic attitudes, instead of an explanation that makes me sound like a neurotic geeky snob.
posted by Pete | 10:18 PM
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