Again, I got hassled about neglecting the blog. Really, there isn't much to write that hasn't been written so far. I"m sure that there's a thousand little blips that I could add to this thing if time allowed.... but it doesn't. It's all I can do to make sure the bills get paid and I remember to order coffee every week. Having a kid in elementary school is sometimes more consuming than owning a business and if I weren't so chronically gobbled with work, I might consider homeschooling her again but..... for now, we read our twenty minutes every night, practice the alto sax for her winter concert (tomorrow night... solo in Row Your Boat...bound for the indie pop charts, let me tell you)
what else...

Speaking of elementary school.... I've had a tutor for Ella for nearly a year now. Different tutors... people that pop up in our lives, take a shining to my kid and happen to display an uncanny ability to convey math concepts. Until recently, teaching math to my kid has been a big problem. I look at a math textbook and my eyes cross and my brain goes flat-line. If Bill tries to teach her, the protocol goes as follows : big power struggle, blow up, time to mellow and then maybe, maybe, they get to the task at hand. She's been asking me to please please be the one to do her math homework with her and I've been at a loss for how to explain to my 11 year old that I can't even wrap my head around her fifth grade math work.

During her week-long Thanksgiving break, though, she waited until two nights before her return to school to tell me that she had brought home three failed quizzes that she had to retake that Monday. I had to give her the silent treatment for nearly 24 hours so that I wouldn't kill her and after I grounded her indefinitely for outrageous irresponsibility, I pulled out her math book and started reading at the beginning of Chapter 2 and didn't stop until the end of Chapter 3 (which, I swear, was more daunting than writing the business plan for this shop) BUT.... I somehow forced myself through that eye crossing, brain flat-lining wall and went through about forty seven sheets of paper as I wrote out examples of her math for me to work on and after an entire evening, afternoon and following evening, I was able to sit down with her and go through her math quizzes and guide her through correcting the problems that had been answered incorrectly. Somewhere in this process, I had the realization that I can't expect my kid to excel at math if, at age 34, I can't get through my own blocks enough to see it through with her.

So when I'm not at the shop or making dinner or walking my dog, I can be found with a fifth grade math textbook in my lap and a wrinkle in my brow. I'm still not at the point where I think I can homeschool again... maybe if I put myself into this math thing long enough it might be a remote possibility but for now I pack up my kid in the morning and pass her off to Mrs. Abair.

If I'm suave enough, maybe I'll post a video here of Ella's solo tomorrow night. I might not get it posted for another three months but that's how it goes here........................................