Definitely Smarter than an Eighth Grader

Despite the endless rain, I couldn't wait another day to see if my national monuments were still intact, or if they were desecrated by eighth graders. We strolled up to Independence Hall just as a tour guide was leading a group of what appeared to be more eighth graders into an antechamber where they would be treated to a ten-minute lecture about the founding fathers.

During the lecture, my children busied themselves digging through the dark cavities of my purse in search of a rogue breath mint or piece of gum. They took a break from their treasure hunting only long enough to answer the tour guide's questions.

"Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?"
If any of the eighth graders knew the answer, it wouldn't have mattered. Three hands shot up before the tour guide got to the second word.

"Thomas Jefferson!" screamed Cortlen when called upon.


"Who helped Jefferson write the Declaration of Independence?"

Kellen and Camber waved their arms so wildly that they practically fell out of their chairs. "John Adams! Benjamin Franklin!" they barked in quick succession.

The eighth graders' teacher stopped me on our way out of the building. "Your children's knowledge of American history is very impressive," she told me.

"That's because they are all geniuses," I said. I failed to add that my children have heard the same lecture no less than twenty-seven times.

As if to prove my point to someone, if not myself, I rephrased the tour guide's questions to them on the drive home.

"So who is Thomas Jefferson again?" I asked.

"The first baseman for the Phillies," answered Cortlen matter-of-factly.

"That's what I thought," I replied.

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Just a reminder: TOMORROW is the last day to register for the MOTHER'S DAY GIVEAWAY! C'mon! What do you have to lose? Nothing that your kids haven't taken from you already!!!