Our Second Grader Sam came home from school with his usual homework. After finishing up, I reviewed his math, ignored his horrible penmanship, and prepared to return it to his backpack. That is when I saw it, a strange frightened squirrel clutching a nut in the bottom right corner of the page.

What does a harried looking squirrel have to do with subtraction? Is someone trying to steal his nut? Has he been asked a confusing math question? Is a predator preparing to attack? Is he just acting like a typical frantic squirrel? The website under the squirrel references “Have Fun Teaching.” Are unrelated bits of clip art really a way to “Have Fun Teaching?”

Confused and a little worried, I returned the paper to Sam’s backpack (after scanning it for my use, of course) and thanked the good Lord that I never have to relive the confusion and awkwardness (and squirrels?) associated with Second Grade.