Cranky Jennie ;-p

I admit it.  When I was a kid, I didn’t aspire to do exceptionally well in school.  What I did do was enough to make my parents happy.   They set expectations and I met them.  As far as I was concerned, my brother was the smart one and I was the athletic one.  And that was o.k. for me.

Part of my lack of ambition for school stemmed from a mistaken belief that everyone learned at or above my level.  When I realized, in graduate school, that I was definitely above  average, I really flourished.  I exceeded my own expectations.  Doing well gave me confidence.

My daughter is an underachiever and IT.DRIVES.ME.CRAZY.  She just doesn’t care.  She always has something she would rather do.  When she does her homework, she tends to rush through it, getting big chunks wrong, but thrilled that she’s “done”.   Of course I make her do it again.  This has become a major bone of contention.

How do you inspire someone to care about something when they just don’t?

This is not a stupid kid.  It’s not an inability to do the work.  She tested into school a year early.  I think the problem is two-fold: she’s spoiled and hasn’t had to work for anything, ever AND she’s very immature.

My mom likes to call it “fourth grade -itis”.  Fourth graders are ornery, like to challenge the rules and to test the waters.  Well, this river (a.k.a. mom) has HAD IT!

It just seems like such a waste of talent.  I wouldn’t get so upset if she put 100% into what she was doing.  The problem is she rarely shows 100% in anything.

So, that leaves the question, how do I fix this?

I have done the “disappointment” angle and the “angry” thing.  Neither works.  So, I’m trying the “threat” angle.  Gone are the XBox and the DS.  On the chopping block are playdates/sleepovers with friends.  Something has to work!

Perhaps I should spend time doing research, something I’m good at, rather than writing and complaining which gets me nowhere!