Homework

When the occasional words are spoken in anger, the ones that strike right into the sensitive place in my heart, it's hard... I try to keep this thought in my mind - a hundred or a thousand times a day I hear, "I love you Mom. I yuv you Mommy." And the one or five times that I hear something different, those five times can't outweigh the other hundred thousand times I hear the love.

Tonight there was a homework struggle, the kind that leaves us almost silent towards each other. The kind that makes us wonder if we'll ever figure out the next question on the page. After a break for supper, we tried again, cuddled up against each other on the couch with a textbook, lots of paper and pencils, and the chance to start over. Talk, explain, look at numbers, write down the answers, and the next thing I know, understanding clicks - "Thank you Mom! You're the best mom. You're the best PERSON in the whole world!" Only four more math problems to go... When David gets home a couple questions later, the student and I are laughing with each other. It's as if homework is the fun part of the day. Today it was - I hope the same for tomorrow and the next. And when it's not the fun part of the day, I'll try to keep this in mind. Keep going. It's been fun before, and it will be again. Soon.