A Parent's Gotta Do . . .

Last night was the season premiere of "House." Last night was also open house at Brandon's school. I must confess that I was really torn as to whether I should go to the open house (like a good parent) or stay home and watch "House" because, well, I love Hugh Laurie. Or maybe it's Dr. House I love. Anyway, it was a 51/49 split, but I ended up at the open house mainly due to guilt.

Brandon is going to be super busy in 4th grade. They have numerous field trips planned and an ambitious curriculum to tackle. Chris and I will have to learn the new ways to add, subtract, multiply and divide so we can help Brandon on his homework. The teacher warned us not to try to teach the kids the "old school" math methods, lest we confuse them. One of the parents raised his hand and asked the teacher if she could conduct a class for the parents on the new math. It is quite different than the way I learned, and to confess, last year I had to review his homework handouts extensively before I could tell him if he had done the problem correctly.

It's a little disconcerting to admit that Brandon's 4th grade curriculum has me studying again. I'm afraid it won't be too long before I'm completely out of the loop in science and math. At least literature, grammar and history should remain vaguely familiar. I hope.

Anyway, I've done my math homework for the evening and now I'm off to watch "House!"