Doing homework is fairly painful for my little nephew, Andy, who also told her teacher that his mother was the stupidest and got whacked.  Somehow, he got a scholarship and his mother was ecstatic.  She was all bragging about it.  Andy overheard her mother’s same conversation with the family and thousands of her acquaintances again and again.  He finally learned that the scholarship meant money, so he was very proud of himself, too.

The glory did not last long.  By 4 PM, he was summoned by his mother.  Play time was over.  The daily torture began.  She was ready to supervise while he began his 6-hour journey to finish his homework.  I was told that it would be a miracle if he would finish it in six hours.

So, the mother and son suffered together.  They argued back and forth.  While his mother was waving the bamboo stick like Master Bai in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and urging him to keep moving, Andy was totally lost in a trance and staring at nowhere in particular.

“I am begging you.  It’s 10 PM.  Could you PAALEEEEASE concentrate and finish these math questions?”

“I am concentrating, but I am thirsty.”

“You can have water as soon as you finish these.  They only take you a second.  Quick.”

“But I can’t think when I am thirsty.”

“NO WATER!”

“Mummy.  This is so painful.  Can I give the scholarship back?  It’s not worth it.  Let’s give the money back so I don’t have to do all this work.”