First grade homework is not for wimps...

As far as I can tell, Rooster does not belong in first grade. She "can't" do the work. It's "too hard." She has just spent the past one and a half hours sitting and sobbing at the kitchen table while she tells me just how impossible her homework is. She is making major mistakes on her math homework, and if I did not know any better, I would say Rooster is doing this deliberately to make me twitch.

     Me: "What do the directions say?"
     Rooster: "Circle groups of ten. Write the numbers."
     Me: "Okay, so circle the pictures in groups of ten."
     Rooster: *circling a group of five*
     Me: "How many is that?"
     Rooster: "Ten."
     Me: "No, it's not. Erase that and try again."
     Rooster: *erasing and then circling the same group of five*
     Me: "It's still not ten. You need to circle something different or add to the group to make ten."
     Rooster: *erasing and then circling the same group of five*
     Me: "Count that. How many is in that group that you keep circling?"
     Rooster: "Um, not ten?" *erases the circle and rips the paper in the process*
     Me: "Oh, for the love of all things sacred..."

Lather, rinse, and repeat for the aforementioned hour and a half. In case anyone is curious, this is why I do not homeschool my kidlets. I'm already developing nervous mannerisms just from trying to have my daughter complete her homework. (I wish I was joking about that. I am reverting to doing the hand stretches and thumb cracking--my own, not Rooster's-- that I used to do when I was stressed out as a child. Nervous behaviors and I go way back.)

In the middle of all of this, I get a phone call from a well-meaning individual who wished me a happy Chinese New Year (Yay! She remembered it's the year of the Dragon!) and told me that I'm not supposed to scold my kidlets today because of the holiday. I figure I have two choices: Don't scold Rooster and leave her homework incomplete, or get after her to fix her mistakes and maybe, just maybe she will finish her homework before the next Ice Age.

And just think: I get to have the same amount of "fun" for tomorrow's homework, too! I am starting to think her teacher deserves combat pay.