A New Laugh From Long Ago

When we were out the other night, I entered into the end of a conversation between my boys. I heard my oldest agree with my youngest that the youngest is “an egomaniac.” The oldest said he had known it since the time Raymond and the oldest convinced the youngest that 10x10 was 101. That started me laughing, because it was a little joke that ended up getting Raymond in trouble with me because I got a “talking to” from the teacher. It is cracking me up now as I type this post.

It all started in the laundry room one day while I was putting clothes in the dryer. My youngest, who was in 1^st grade at the time, came running in to tell me that he was extremely smart because he knew what 10x10 was, and that made him really smart. I asked him what it was and he said 100! I asked him if he was sure because I thought it might be 101. He insisted that it was 100 and he knew it because he was so smart. I told him again I thought it might be 101 and he should go ask his dad. Of course, Raymond heard all that had happened so when the youngest ran in to tell his dad that he was really smart because he knew what 10x10 was … it was 100! Raymond said no, he was pretty sure it was 101. Then the oldest chimed in that yes, Raymond was right, it was 101.

It was a good laugh for the morning, but then Raymond, the oldest, and I sort of forgot about it. The only reason I started the whole thing was because we don’t like our kids to brag about how smart they are to others. They need to be humble. We figured that the youngest would look at the math and realize that he was right.

Alas, did that bite us. Instead of realizing that he was right, he went to school and tried to convince the teacher that she was wrong because his daddy and mommy told him the answer, and it was 101. The report I received from her later was that she had to spend the whole afternoon showing him why 10x10 was 100. I got a “talking to” about how it is not proper to mislead your child, and Raymond had a really good laugh again.

We laughed about this all over again the other night, but it was a sad laugh for me without Raymond.

The youngest announced that it was because of that whole incident that he has not been able to ever trust his family. I told him that one should always check facts, and then I laughed again at how funny Raymond found the whole thing.