I don’t think I needed to be the homework guard, I told my wife.

My 12-year-old son understands everything perfectly and he doesn’t need me to stand over him in the Homework Guard Tower to make sure everything is done. He’ll call us if he has any trouble.

You need to go help him, she told me after providing a long list of reasons why she couldn’t. Besides, I know your parents didn’t help you with homework. 1006 homework

I want to say “you’re wrong,” but I can’t. Suddenly, it is a lot harder to sulk.

I walk into the living room where he is working on my old grandfather’s chair, leaning to one side with glasses on. Books and papers are scattered everywhere.

Please not let it be math. Please not let it be math, I thought as I sit down on the floor next to him.

At first I feel relieved that we were learning about longitudes, and then I begin to panic. I’m not sure I know how to do this, I think. Kids don’t need to know this. That’s what Google is for. Duh!

As I examine the atlas for a minute, I realize how easy it is.

Before you know it, he is leaning over my shoulder, watching as I show him how to get the right answers. We feel an extra closeness together.

You know the cool thing as I think about it later? As we worked on homework that night, I know I discovered my own answers.

Homework photo from here.