Question: Is there anything more painful than doing word searches at the end of the day with a small, frustrated, tired, child?

I'm just curious.

Because off the top of my head, I don’t think there’s much that’s more excruciating after a long day at the salt mine. (so to speak)

My son is very bright, and I’m not just saying that because I’m his mother. He learned to read at age 3, he is a virtual GPS in the flesh, and his math is pretty damn good.

But when it comes to word searches? It’s a bloodbath.

He’s never been particularly good at looking for things. He’ll stand in front of the refrigerator and say, “I can’t find the milk,” while he’s staring right at it. It all seems eerily familiar...

But really, in the past two days he’s twice accused me of not putting something of his away as he’s looking at the very receptacle into which it has been placed.

Let’s parse that sentence, shall we?

(1) What he couldn’t find was staring him right in the face.

(2) Shouldn’t HE be putting his things away?

I’m just sayin’.

Anyway, the word search was kicking his ass. He was getting so frustrated and I felt badly for him, but I won’t be there in college to help him on his exams so at some point you have to let your kid struggle a bit in order to succeed. As painful as that is.

I showed him a strategy of how to systematically look for the letters he needs in the word search, but getting him to do it was painful. It’s drudgery, to be sure, and it happens to be something that I find fairly easy. So it was hard to be patient as he struggled. Plus, I have yet to see him struggle at school so far.

He moaned. He groaned. He whimpered. He whined.

Then he found a word.

The whole thing is humbling. Because of course, our children will struggle. Just as we did, and do. And it will be painful. But we have to find a way to ride it out. When he was done with his work, he was really pleased.

That’s worth a lot.