Welcome To The Terrordome

I am thrilled to say that my old blog"The Life and Times of Mary Margaret Sipes" is still up and running!
I thought that blogger had deleted it, but I found it today and took a very long walk down memory lane.

I honestly can't believe that Mimi has been home for eight years.

Mimi's latest terror is timed multiplication tests. I am trying to remember.... why do we do these?

I did them in grade school because the calculator and smart phone were just stars in the sky.
I sat in very neat rows in the classroom. We would recite our facts and if we got them wrong, well , there are a lot of books, plays and films written about what happens when you get the facts wrong.

I also have the idea that it helps your brain... blah blah blah.
Mimi goes into an absolute panic. No matter how many ipad apps, drills, practice tests, schoolhouse rocks, she freezes in test mode with a timer. Meanwhile, she can find the Detroit Opera House from memory, build a Lego Police Station in three hours and start a fire with sticks.
Her entire self image unfortunately, is wrapped in this timed test (and the promise of a Leprechaun with every passing grade). 
I ask you is this all necessary? in the third grade?
Back to my crusty old blog. I found my first entry, before we even knew Mimi was our baby.

I love this photo, one because Andrew my nephew never misses a photo op, two because Paulina and I are truly scared, three, because the dad on the far right is so non phased by the whole thing, walk in the park. He doesn't have to do his times tables in four minutes.