(x+y) + wine/tired =?

Usually Thing Two is a completely self-sufficient student.

Tonight, he had trouble with an algebra problem.

Of course, he didn’t bring it to my attention until AFTER dinner. Which means I may or may not have consumed a glass (and a half) or two of Cabernet.

Ugh.

Algebra is meant to be done stone sober with a triple shot of espresso.

Which, as of this moment, I am not.

I am not three sheets to the wind, either.

So, as the loving and responsible mother that I attempt to be on a fairly regular basis, I attempted to solve the problem.

Yes, I attempted it.

Valiantly, the way Sister Lucinda would have wished.

I had lists of multiples going.

I had multiple algebraic expressions constructed.

And I even was able to prove to my son that 126 was evenly divisible by seven. To which he responded, “Uh, Mom? That’s why it’s on the list of multiples of seven you wrote down over here.”

Uh.  Yeah.

So, in the midst of recycled papers, multiples of seven, six and five plus a serious lack of decent pencils and erasers around here, I bailed.

And consulted the online tutor.

The online tutor is the best thing EVAH!

We get ours through our local public library system. I wish I were compensated to recommend them, but sadly, I am not. If you wish to add benefit to my life in monetary terms, feel free to click around on the ads on my blog, but the online tutor won’t ever be one of them. Or you can save yourself the trouble and just send me a check  

Those tutors are little electronic geniuses. Or really smart people behind a keyboard who know just how to guide a little struggling person to complete understanding.

I don’t mean me. I mean my kid!

Seriously.

Once, in third grade, Thing Two was stumped as to how to complete a project that involved the food chain. He was stuck on the one example from the video the class watched. I was stumped as to how to explain it in such a way that he could apply it to OTHER food chains.

So, to the online tutor we went.

Within mere moments, my kid had an understanding of the food chain that to this day he still can apply!

But, I digress. Back to the algebra problem.

You are a member of a marching band. There are 126 members. Lately, a bunch of them started yakking up their lunch and won’t be able to march in today’s parade. You have to help the band director reorganize the band in perfectly matched up lines. When they’re lined up in rows of 4, 5 or 6, the lines are one person short.  When they are in rows of 7, the lines are even. How many students are well enough to be marching in the parade? 

Okay, I paraphrased it a bit.

My version is much more interesting. Trust me.

So, as we sit here, in the queue for an online algebra tutor, I’m hoping for a minor math miracle.

And wondering if there’s a patron saint of algebra.

UPDATE: the online tutor saved the day yet again. He systematically guided my kid through an algebra problem that involved entirely too many band students, some of whom (allegedly) had the flu, with an anal band director who insisted on complete and even lines in the marching band.

I  hereby nominate “Wallace” from the Online Tutor Service to be Patron Saint of Algebra.

Pretty sure I can sneak that past the Vatican.