Six Pennies

Math homework, math homework, oh how I hate thee! Math homework, you frequently make late afternoons in my house unpleasant. You are the reason my kitchen table winds up strewn with eraser debris. When you and my daughter get together, I frequently want to rip my hair out. You make me scream for divine intervention.

However, sometimes, you bring me amusement at the expense of my daughter. You are responsible for priceless gems such as "When you look a a hundreds chart, what pattern do you see? 6." (Yeah, Bryan, his coworkers and I were all amused and scratching our heads over that one, and two years later we're still laughing about it.) Tonight you brought me more amusement amid the bubbling frustration. Math homework, you posited the question: "Suppose you have exactly $1.06 in coins. You have only 3 coins. What coins could they be?" My daughter, who is on to the cryptic games you like to play, pondered your question and countered it with an answer that showed that she wasn't buying into your hypothetical 3 coin question. Her answer? 6 pennies. That's right, those three coins totaling $1.06 are 6 pennies.

Thank you, math homework you have successfully amused my husband and I today. Madeline, however, was not amused. I have a picture of this lovely response to save for posterity. Perhaps someday we'll all look back and have a laugh, except for you, math homework. Once my children are done with school you'll never be allowed to set foot in this house again. I used to like you and I think my husband liked you, too, but you're not as cool as you used to be in the 80's and 90's.

I just checked Madeline's homework and found another gem. Question: Dave brought a pen for $0.35 and milk for $2.09 at the store. How much change did he get back from $5? Madeline's response: "Dave got $7.44 back." Hmm...can I shop at that store, too? The kicker is that she asked for help with this question and I explained to her that she need to add up his purchases and subtract them from the money he used to pay. Sigh.