Racing to 100

Mr. Boy is painstakingly printing the headline on his math project poster, and his name at the bottom, as we work on deadline for his first grade class tomorrow. As a recovering journalist, I know all about deadlines. Maybe that’s where we first learn about working on deadline, i.e. waiting until the last minute to get homework done. I helped him lay out a grid of even lines on the poster with an aluminum yardstick (which won’t warp) we got at the local hardware store because "neatness counts" as his teacher always reminds the pupils. It’s harder than the old pre-school and kindergarten days when creativity, including a certain amount of sloppiness, ruled the day. He’s got these race car stickers which he is putting on the poster in groups of five (counting by 5s), which will then be labeled, 5, 10, 15, etc. to 100. Laborious effort. I feel like I’m reverting back to grade school.