Positively Negative or Negatively Positive (aka Part 2 of 'This is how I do it')

Or the alternative title could have been the "Trials of Tuesday". If you read Part 1 of 'This is how I do it'. You have a pretty good idea of how a general day works.

Tuesdays are a bit special though. They are my "play each week by ear" day. Tink has soccer training at 5.30pm and I don't have a regular babysitter to take her on Tuesdays. Some weeks she has a game after school. Some weeks it is cancelled due to rain. Some weeks she goes to a friend's house. Some weeks Apple takes her. As I said, I play each week as it comes.

One of the other options is that Tink and Pixie catch the train to me at work. I drive to work those days, then drop Tink at soccer (usually a bit late). Pixie and I head straight to dancing for boot-camp yoga (me) and hip hop (Pixie). By the time they have afternoon tea, and I try and have a job for them to do (parenting tip of the day: buying cards is an awesome job if you need them to go somewhere for 20 minutes), it usually works out ok.

The week in question was one of those weeks.

Pixie decided to her home work in the car on the way home. Please note I did tell her maybe it would be better done at home, but my suggestion was ignored.

I was trying to explain the concepts of adding negative numbers.

I was failing.

Pixie: I don't know why I have to learn this anyway. I will never use it in real life.
Me: What did your teacher say about that?
Pixie: She said we have to learn it because it is in the curriculum.
Me: You have these conversations a lot don't you?
Pixie: Yes.
Me: Well, there you go then. Plus you never know when you do need to know things like this.
Pixie *grumpily*: I don't want my life to be ruled by negatives.

She has a point. I do try to concentrate on the positives, but this wasn't exactly what I meant.

Tink took pity on me at this point and explained to Pixie how to do it.

Tink got her to understand it about 30 seconds.

It is probably a good thing I decided not to be a teacher. I have I mentioned my subject is History, not Maths?

Some days, this is how I do it.

Oh, and in case anyone is wondering about Buglet, she goes home has a quiet afternoon and cooks dinner.