The Deal

Mother Knows Best

Tyler:

I came home and let out a sigh.

"I'm home people!" I hollered.

"Hi sweetie, how was school?"

"Not bad."

"Good. Why is there a phone that's not yours in your pocket. Unless you're suddenly into artsy aesthetic type stuff and I didn't know. God you didn't steal it did you?"

"No mom relax. I'm a trouble maker not a thief... yet..."

"Tyler!" she scolded me, smacking me with a towel.

"Kidding. I was tutoring someone and they left it in my car."

"Does this someone by any chance have a name?"

"Yeah..."

"Well then... Tyler hurry up. Do I need to smack you again?"

"N-no ma'am."

"Well..."

"Right. It's Lexi Adams."

"Oh that sweet girl down the street."

"Sure. Sweet..."

"What did you do...?"

"What? Why do you always assume it was me? I'm your son Mom!"

"Yes, and because you're my son I know how you work. Now spill."

"Fine... I had to tutor her and well, she's as dumb as a door nail. She got distracted by everything, even a piece of grass. How does one get distracted by grass?!"

"What happened?"

So I explained everything that went down.

"You dumbhead! How could you something like that? I thought I raised you better than that."

"What? How hard is basic algebra? They literally teach that in middle school."

"Sweetie. You knew she has trouble focusing long enough to understand the material and you made her feel like she couldn't do it. You're supposed to help her succeed. You know why they have peer tutoring?"

"Why?"

"Because you're closer to her age, and being her age, you can get through to her in ways adults simply can't."

"But she won't even focus long enough to get anywhere..."

"Well that's because you're trying to make her see it the same way she does at school. If it didn't make sense to her the first time it probably didn't help her to learn the same way again. You have to see things her way before you go anywhere."

"How?"

"Well, maybe instead of looking at her challenges as a problem, why don't you try and understand her. You might be surprised at how it turns out. You can't hold something that's out of her control against her."

"But focusing is something she should be able to do on her own."

"It's not that easy for everyone. Sometimes our minds like to wander, and some people just have a harder time controlling it."

"I guess you're right. What do I do?"

"Well you could start by going over and returning the phone."

"No! Are you crazy? She lives with her brother," I whispered in pure fear and terror.

"Aww. Is someone afraid?"

"Mom!"

"Go. Now. Do I need to bring the towel out again?"

"Nope. Byee."

With that I left to go return the phone. Hopefully Josh won't want to beat my ass.