If comments like these sound familiar, it means you've seen your child intensely absorbed in work that demands brainpower. It means you've witnessed self-motivation up close and your child shows signs of loving learning. Jason, please get to your homework. It looks to me like all you're doing is staring into space. Jason, stop fiddling around right now.
Mom sinks to the couch, demoralized.
I hate fighting every night. I'm starting to dread coming home. Every child is born with a desire to learn. Indeed, most children enter kindergarten excited about learning to read and write, and eager to know about the world around them. They look on learning as drudgery, not the exciting opportunity that propelled them when they were little.