After school:
"John, can we go see the dinosaurs?"
"Do you have homework to do?"
"Maybe."
"Maybe?"
"If I say I do, are you going to say no to dinosaurs?"
He's getting sneakier...but not a lot sneakier. You can guess how that one turned out. There was also no to swimming, jumping in ponds, getting ice cream (isn't it past ice cream season?), buying bats to keep as pets, going immediately to the zoo to satisfy a sudden bat craving, going to the library to look up everything on bats instead of doing homework, no, not even if he did a report on bats because I don't think Mrs N would consider it an adequate replacement for fractions. Polar bears and making a video of him baking cake: also not a replacement for fractions.
When I said we could probably go to the library after he did his homework, he said: "Instead of is way more fun than after." So often true.
-
I'm not entirely sure that Carolyn Kizer actually wrote this; I've seen different attributions, and I've never seen the poem anywhere but online, despite my best attempts to find out what books it's in. I think it's her though.
Tu Fu (or Du Fu (I don't know which version of their names is more correct)) and Li Po (or Li Bai) were 8th century Chinese poets.
Tu Fu to Li Po
Carolyn Kizer
My lord, how beautifully you write!May I sleep with you tonight?
Till I flag, or when thou wilt,
we'll roll up, drunken, in one quilt.
In our poems we forbear
to write of kleenex or long hair
or how the one may fuck the other.
We're serious artists, aren't we, brother?
In our poems, oceans heave
like our stomachs, when we leave
late at night the fourteenth bar,
I your meteor, you, my star.
When autumn comes, like thistledown
we'll still be floating through the town,
wildly singing in the haze,
I, past saving, you, past praise.
85 comments:
You wrote a bad word!
I like that one, too :)
Going to be late home tonight, sorry
Ooh, I liked that one. I should have had you as my high school English teacher John. The nuns made me hate poetry.
I would tend to agree that libraries are more fun than fractions, but doesn't Sherlock need to learn fractions in order to bake? It's always a half a cup of this and a quarter cup of that.
I like the poem :-)
John do you ever get the 'I did this today and that today and the other today' followed a few moments later by 'don't ask my teacher about the things I was just telling you about will you'?
You wrote a bad word!
I must remember to remind Sherlock that it's still not okay for him to say that word even when quoting poetry, or Mrs N might keep both of us after school tomorrow...
It's all right. Should we wait to have dinner, or will you be too late for that?
Kholly - The nuns made me hate poetry.
I don't know why, but this sentence is making me laugh and laugh... I'm sorry the nuns made you hate poetry! They probably wouldn't have approved of this one at all.
The real problem is that he can already do the work. The concept of practising something he already understands... Well, he must've called it boring at least once every two minutes until he was done.
Anonybob - ha, oh yes. I sometimes wonder if Mrs N gets similar reports on what he does at home, followed by instructions not to ask me about them...
Its a kind of terrifying thought really is what the kids tell the teacher but I try not to think about it too much ;-)
Don't tell Sherlock this but as a maths teacher I kind of agree with him that there is very little point repeatedly practicing something he can already do, I would of course make my kids do it if it was homework but I really don't get it.
Yeah. There's less of it in his school than I remember there being in my school, but still, I suppose it's the only way to make sure that all the kids understand it before they move on.
I'm guessing you had the here's a method now do thirty kind of education I had? how to kill enthusiasm dead!!
What are you doing for dinner? if you don't mind me asking, the food you lot eat always sound so much tastier than what I make :-)
I'll be about an hour late, up to you if you want to eat or wait.
(proper rhyming poetry, that.)
L - heh, yeah. I made that tag and then most of what I've posted has ended up rhyming. We'll wait, Sherlock's had a snack. Are things going all right at work?
Anonybob - I think I'm going to try making risotto. I've watched L do it often enough. And maybe lemon chicken, and salad by Sherlock.
You're late because it's Thursday you're always late on Thursday it's stupid.
I want peas in the risotto.
that sounds delicious John, good luck with it :-)
If we have peas, we can have them in the risotto.
L - are you always late on Thursdays?
He is.
Always always or always recently?
Did you check to see if we have peas?
since we went camping maybe even before.
They're in the freezer.
Er...yeah. Sort of.
Work's fine.
My desire to harm our PM is slightly higher than normal.
Then we can have them in the risotto. Did you decide what you're going to put in the salad?
L - what's he done now?
Oh, just managed to casually link paedophilia and homosexuality on live tv. That's all.
Well. That's just...fantastic.
EVERYTHING. And lemon juice.
Why?
Why what? If why I said it was fantastic, I was being sarcastic again, sorry. It's so far the opposite of fantastic that I'm not sure what else to say.
Noooooo why is Lestrade always late
Why did he say it?
its good to know us brits can give the Americans a run for their money with idiot politicians though isn't it?!!
Seriously how is the man still in a job??
can we have ice cream for pudding?
At last, a question I can answer... Yeah, we can have ice cream.
There's just something I do on a Thursday. I'll be home soon.
And yeah, isn't it just great? I can't repeat the things I said, no matter how they would inform others of the colourful nature of the English language.
whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?
Nothing you need to know about, Genius. If I knew you'd been tracking my movements maybe I'd've been more careful.
I need to know EVERYTHING!
Do you.
Where do you think I've been? Dare I ask...
I remember that feeling Sherlock, but it is honestly better not to know things sometimes.
It must be a surprise because if it weren't you would tell John. Are you learning to fly so we can all fly in a plane somewhere amazing?
I don't think there's anywhere near London they'd let me loose with a plane, sorry.
How do you know John doesn't know where I've been?
Anon - slightly worried where you think I've been/what I've been doing.
Because he didn't tell me to stop bothering you about it, he just tried to distract me with salad.
observant little boys are just great aren't they ;-)
Salad isn't very distracting, is it? I'd've gone for the ice-cream angle...
I assumed that John agreeing to ice cream for pudding was his attempt at distraction :-)
He wasn't trying hard because he wants to know too OBVIOUSLY.
Is it something with your guitar because you said you needed callouses for the not electric one but you still don't play it at home ever. Are you in a secret band???
...like Jem and the Holograms?
Ah, so you're employed as his sleuth? I hope you got a good contract...
I am, in fact, an international rockstar on a Thursday evening, yeah...
Nope.
But you are warmer than you were with flying lessons...
I only meant that surprises are good sometimes (now on the right blog - what an idiot)
But it is SOMETHING with the guitar because your collar is wrinkly right now the way it gets from the strap.
My guitars have been here!
But you didn't say I'm wrong so that means I'm right!
Anon - don't worry, we've all commented on the wrong blog before!
John, you're being very quiet. Hope salad isn't distracting you...
And I promise I haven't been doing anything unfaithful.
Never occurred to me that you had. Just thought I'd try to not be nosey and not bother you about it and assume you'd tell me when you wanted to.
...probably just made myself sound really guilty then.
Sherlock's pretty much right.
There's an open mic night at a pub. I've been practicing playing for an audience again. Been a very long time since I've done it.
Heh. You sound fine, love. It was a bit funny watching Sherlock drag it out of you though, sorry. Do we get to come along and listen at some point? And practicing for what?
ok, so that is really cool!!
He did do really well! Although trying not to laugh as he frowned at me for five minutes, as if he might be able to read my mind, was quite hard!
And thanks. Yeah, you can come and listen sometime. Practicing because Jo asked me to play a few songs at their wedding reception. She didn't really know I haven't played much in a long time. Does now.
That's wonderful! Do you know what you're going to play?
Wow, nifty!
Also, I really love that poem--what a wonderful way to dissolve all those centuries!
(And I fully sympathize with Sherlock on the homework--but there is no other way to make sure everyone gets the material, or to make sure those that need the drill have it. And you can't just assign homework to those that need it without making it a punishment to those who have done nothing wrong. The one good thing is if you understand the work, homework goes REALLY fast.)
uh...sort of. Some of them. I mean, she asked for a few things.
A few things which are...? I am interested, but you don't have to tell me if you don't want to, and fortunately for you, I doubt Sherlock cares. ;)
I'll put some in a post. As I haven't done one today. Just don't expect me to sound like the pros...
You always sound good to me.
You're horribly biased, though, as previously discussed. A few million times... ;)
Hm...maybe. Still true though.
All right, put some up.
Don't laugh.
Why would anyone laugh? (Other than with delight, but I don't think that's what you meant. :)) *heads over to L's blog*
I dunno, the thought of me singing a song done by some gorgeous young girl... it's slightly ridiculous.
Not at all! Much more likely to end up sounding just right when you sound nothing like the original, since there's no chance of it sounding karaoke. (I'm listening to it now, it's lovely and should come out wonderful.)
A nice job of deduction, Sherlock! And what a pleasant surprise at the end of it. I hope you're having fun, L!
John, I have to agree with Sherlock about homework, even though I agree with you that it has to get done. It is pretty dull, especially when you know the stuff. But combining the library and homework isn't really a bad notion. There are a lot of kids who come every afternoon to finish off their schoolwork so that it doesn't get in the way of their hometime afterwards.
Sherlock, you can try to spice up the drill kind of homework a little by estimating how long you think it's going to take, and then testing your estimations until you perfect them. Just be glad you don't have to do math homework like some of the kids who come to my library to do their homework. They not only have to give the answer, they have to "show how they got it", which involves drawing lines or circles or generally wasting a lot of paper to pretend they had to count instead of just multiply or divide. And not just for one question, for every single problem. It's a great way to turn kids who like math into kids who hate math.
rsf
No, I think that song will sound marvelous in your voice. I've heard covers of it, and it lets every singer show off something different, which is a mark of a great song, I think.
I like the "Live at The Premises" version better, because I'm minimalist like that and also because I can start figuring out the piano part that way.
AFtSO
Oh, yeah, Sherlock, I forgot to add, if you do start timing your homework, you have to add five minutes for every wrong answer to your time if you want to get an accurate idea of how well you're doing. Accuracy trumps speed.
But when you've built up a history getting right answers, and finishing smoothly, you'll be able to demonstrate to John that you really will be able to finish your work after doing something interesting as a break between school and going home when the homework is the right kind. You'll have to follow through, of course, but you knew that.
rsf
Set rules and routine are what get families through the day RSF and I'd take really against someone advising my child how to convice me my rules were wrong when they have no idea of the many millions of things that are dependent on the routine.
Full time looking after kids is a jugling act and John has his rules because he knows what is needed for the whole family not just for Sherlock.
(sorry John slightly out of turn for me to say it but it bugs me when people encourage kids to push at routines that are really there for their benefit.)
Remember Sherlock, what trumps everything about trips after school and homework is doing what John asks of you without arguing or being grumpy. If you discuss something with him, then it's still up to him if you have to do homework first or not.
I think Sherlock's always going to push against every boundary and routine set for him. Mycroft's the same way, he just does it more subtly. It's all right, that's why I'm here.
Yup, John always has the final decision. He knows what other factors might be in the mix, which Sherlock, you might not be aware of.
Anon, I agree that routines are important for kids, but I had forgotten to add the importance of accuracy to my earlier comment and I realized that was an important omission. As for the occasional changeup from routine, from what I've seen it isn't unusual for parents to change things for time-sensitive errands (we need to get to this store before it closes) so I'm more open to the possibility that kids might adjust the routine on rare occasions for similar reasons.
And grumpiness is always a deal killer.
rsf
Grumpiness is a deal killer...dammit and I was enjoying being engaged to John so much... but grumpiness is my default setting at last 40% of the time (down from 99% in the past)
as a librarian you can be as open to it as you like RSF.
Progress counts! I think you're safe there. :)
As long as Sherlock is never scared to ask us things, but also respects our decisions.
I'd say John knew what he was getting into Greg and a reduction of 59% in grumpyness is pretty impressive ;-)
L - I still think most of your grumpiness must happen at work where we don't see it.
Hey, John knew the job was dangerous when he took it! Besides, you don't think that grumpiness should be a deal winner, right? (And you do things like bed snails, which are amazing and wonderful and cancel out whole days of grumpiness all by themselves.)
Anon, I started out thinking that strict routines without exceptions were the best thing for everyone, and it was the parents and kids who've changed my mind over time. *shrug* It's usually the parents and kids who change my mind!
rsf
I think the point is that adults get to decide when the routine is broken - kids don't. The boys can lobby for it, and may get it, but the decision lies with the adult.
So whether or not we believe Sherlock can manage his homework and a trip out isn't really what makes it more or less likely to happen - it's all the other things John has to do in a day that is.
That's what i think anon is trying to say. And I agree.
If it wasnt, and I'm putting words in your mouth, Anon, I apologise.
that was it exactly, John has enough to contend with, in the nicest possible way, with the boys he doesn't need people encouraging them to make it harder, that will only lead to uspet for everyone.
With due respect, Anon, I see your point but I really don't see that rsf did that. She was looking for ways for Sherlock to make homework more interesting, and suggesting a way that it might (perhaps, if John agrees) be used down the line to get something he wants, which is not encouraging him to make John's life harder, I don't think.
I think all that was missing from RSF's comment was a few 'maybes' and 'perhapses'.
But when you've built up a history getting right answers, and finishing smoothly, you'll be able to demonstrate to John that you really will be able to finish your work after doing something interesting
See, that's the sort of thing Sherlock will take as gospel (when it suits him). We've had it before "but the internet said...!"
Whereas if it had said "When you've built up history/demonstrated then maybe John will take that into account when you ask to go somewhere, if you're honest about the work you have to do and the time you think it will take."
Sherlock remembers all this stuff far better than John or I do, and it does make it harder when he's arguing if he feels like the entire Internet has given him permission to do something that we're saying isn't going to happen.
I know that wasn't the intention of the comment, but he's 7, he uses everything he can to get his way!
Heh. Well, he's perfectly normal in that!
(My brother is 15 years my junior, so I have very clear personal memories of the "But she SAID..." argument style. :D)
Yes, I should have included some more maybes and perhapses. In fact, I cut a few out, because I was feeling like I was being too verbose!
I think the way that John has made Sherlock demonstrate responsibility before getting more of it, like he did with the degus, is great. And that's really what I was trying to follow along with. But I'll try to remember, when I'm talking to Sherlock, to emphasize the "you won't always win the discussion" aspect too!
rsf
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