Big A does not have a huge amount of homework. He has 4 math sheets, 12 spelling words, some reading and a journal entry. That's it... It doesn't take him long to do it and this year he's much more willing to sit down and focus than he was last year but last night he snapped. He had an absolute meltdown.
He was willingly and eagerly writing about his new bunk beds in his journal. He wrote 4 perfect sentences, thinking clearly though each one before writing, making sure the whole thing made sense, using correct capitalization and punctuation, etc. And then it came time for the 'detailed picture'.
I didn't say a word to him about the drawing but for some reason he got a perfection bug up his... Well... I won't go there. Anyhow, you would have thought he was being asked to use drafting tools to create a blue print. He kept making lines on the paper (for the bunk bed sides) and erasing them then getting frustrated because they weren't straight. I tried telling him that I can't draw straight lines either and to just do the best he could. He wouldn't have anything to do with that and this went on and on until he was in tears. I held him... I talked to him... I tried to comfort him... I offered him a ruler... And he continued to draw, erase, yell, cry, repeat.
I finally told him, very calmly, that he needed to take a break and walk away from it for awhile. This made him even more upset.
After a few minutes he returned to the table and finished his drawing. The evening ended with a smiling Big A and a completed journal page, but YIKES! While I'm happy he was concerned and cared about his work, I hope this perfection trend (at least to this degree) doesn't keep up!
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