(I'm pretty sure I'll be able to watch tonight's Downton Abbey at pbs.org, at least.)

You certainly will! Dooooowntonnnn.

good after-school programs are like the best thing ever in the world wrt homework, especially those early years. Mac has zero idea how to study though and man he is hell-bent to not do ANYTHING with me. I am trying to see if there are things they offer in the upper elementary grades about teaching basic study skills, rather than just doing homework sheets.

everyone in NYC should start referring to Upton, Dooownton, and Miiidton.

They cut an awesome Downton promo to Petula Clark, but only showed it to us at an all-staff. It was hilarious.

I feel the same way. It drives me crazy how much of MY time is required for homework.

HAHAHAH! Noah has occasional homework and the shine has not worn off it yet (pre-K!) but I was just kvetching that I hate how the homework is last minute to us ("Here's a coffee can! Fill it with things that start with the letter D! It's due tomorrow!") and we scramble to do it.

And I know what the teacher is trying to accomplish and am generally for it, but still it makes me grumbly.

Like Stephanie, the hard part is that since he's preliterate I have to do the homework. It's an assignment for me!

We have been doing workbook stuff every day this break and I hope to continue that as a school thing. Both kids surprisingly love to do it and call it their homework.

My elderly cat gets a mat at the same spot. For two years. I cut it when it gets long but it stays in the same spot.

Kittenish has a spot that I just wonder if she can even groom easily now. So far just brushing fixes things but I can easily see us getting into mat territory and I do not look forward to it.

Since we're testing for G&T in two weeks, I've been getting Dylan into the habit of at least two workbook pages every day, so we don't get to test day and have him suddenly not be in the mood to hold a pencil or follow directions. (Which of course could happen anyway and is why I think that testing 4 year-olds for giftedness by having a total stranger watch them fill out a multiple choice test is an exercise in futility, but G&T placement starts in kindergarten, so here we are.)

Fortunately I really love the kind of logic puzzles that the tests are based on, so it's been fun for me to show him how they work.

Also, Downton Abbey YAY. So glad this show is back.

Since we're testing for G&T in two weeks, I've been getting Dylan into the habit of at least two workbook pages every day

Sigh. I read this three times before I was able to puzzle out what exactly the problem was with my difficulty understanding what two workbook pages every day had to do with gin & tonics.

He likes lime though, right? And juniper?

ETA hIgh fives JZ.

Sorry, I should have mentioned, the workbook is Bartending for Dummies (Level 1, PK-2).