Until I Found you

Eight

"Old shepherd has three sons: Jack, Jill, and Julian. If he wants to split his 18 sheep equally among them, how many sheep would each get?" Kiraz read the problem to Eda for a second time.

"Come on, Kiraz. You know how to do this kind of problem," Eda cheered her on.

The child circled the words and numbers that represented quantities. Then she listed them: 

3 sons; 18 sheep.

"Good, now you can set up the operation," Eda prompted. "What kind of operation is it?"

"Division, but I haven't learned division yet," Kiraz rebutted.

"Set it up as multiplication:

3 sons x [    ] = 18 sheep

Remember the table of 3s. 3 multiplied by what number gives you 18?"

"Six," Kiraz responded quickly. "This way is easier than how my teacher taught," Kiraz commented.

"Which way did she teach you to do it?" Eda asked.

Kiraz opened her notebook and showed her the notes that she'd taken. "I'm supposed to make groups. See?"

"This way makes sense, too," Eda told Kiraz. "It's having you think about what division actually means."

"Still, your way is easier," Kiraz repeated.

"Why do you think it's easier?" Eda drew 18 circles and started coloring every third one a different color until she had 6 of each. "If you do it this way, you don't even need to know your timetables to solve the problem."

"But that takes so long," Kiraz grumbled.

"Just because something is time-consuming doesn't mean it is harder than something that isn't. Sometimes things just need to take longer so you can learn them well and understand them better."

"Why?" This didn't quite make sense to Kiraz.

"Why do you pick chapter books instead of story books at the library every week? The books you read are at a fourth-grade level. You could be doing reading logs on story books and get full credit without a problem," Eda stated, changing tactics.

"I like chapter books because they describe the characters better, and I get more about the story," Kiraz responded. After a moment, she conceded, "I see your point."

"Many things in life are going to take time. Not everything can be easy. Not everything will be quick. But working at something, setting a long-term goal, and achieving it can be very fulfilling. Victory after hard work and dedication tastes all the sweeter."

"Like being able to do time-steps in Tap? It took me forever to learn them. But now I can do them in my sleep," Kiraz told her, grinning.

Eda nodded. "I'd miss that sweet smile of yours," She let Kiraz know, stroking her cheek.

"I missed you a lot this weekend, Edacim. Why didn't you answer my message on Saturday?"

So, the text message had been Kiraz, after all.

Dr. Bell and I had dinner together. Don't you remember? Then on Sunday, my mum took my phone with her to work by mistake. I slept late, so I didn't realize I didn't have it with me. By the time I texted your dad back, you were asleep."

Kiraz nodded, accepting her answer. "Eda, is Dr. Bell your boyfriend now?"

Eda didn't think this question would come so soon or from Kiraz. "Yes, he's my boyfriend," she responded simply.

"Could I meet him?" Kiraz asked somewhat shyly.

"You want to meet my boyfriend?" Eda asked, scrunching her nose.