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Teaching The Demerit King by © moon_grace I am the proud mother of a demerit king." That's the bumper sticker I want on my car. That kid has gotten a demerit for everything you can get one for from talking in the bathroom to pretending to cut the hair of the girl who sits in front of him. He comes home with always the same lead in... Mom, did YOU know xyz ? My favorite of all time was.. "Mom, did you know that when they say no talking that means sign language, too?" "Demerit, huh?" "Yes." Tonight, we did history. Tomorrow is a test. We went over questions like "What were the gold miners called?" and "Who led America into war with England?" Tonight was different. I got to the last few questions. "What did the Native Americans do to settlers crossing their land?" I about fell out. I sucked in my breath and listened as he proudly spouted off the one answer he knew by heart, "They shot arrows and burned wagons." I was heartbroken. The questions did get better. It was "Did the settlers deserve the land more than the Native Americans?" The answer was "No." I felt a little better when we got to the question, "Who broke a treaty with the Cherokee?" The answer, "The US Government." Then came the question that stumped me. "Who went on the Trail of Tears?" His answer, "The Mormons?" Now, he knew this answer years ago, months ago, we discussed it, more than once we have discussed it. But when you are eight and trying to remember so many facts, you get flustered and get things twisted. I found a picture of the Trail of Tears online. It was one well known. I was happy when I pulled it up and he immediately burst out, "HEY! I know that picture!" What he had misplaced in his mind was who these people were and what was exactly this Trail of Tears. We went over it again.  Again, who was John Goolsby and who was the Cherokee and what happened. I don't do this well sometimes. I was in tears before it was over with. I told him, I don't care if you make an A on the test or not, but remember the answer to this one for me. Poor kid. I told him all about being taken to stockades and lack of warm clothing or blankets and freezing to death. I finally told him it would be if someone came to the door right now and said we had to leave with it cold outside. Your sister doesn't even have shoes on right now! Poor kid. I wanted him so to remember. Later, he did. We were going over the test again later and we came to the same questions. "Who went on the Trail of Tears?" "The Cherokee." "What did the Native Americans do to the settlers who crossed their land?" A light went off. Thoughtfully, it was, "Mamma, I wish the Cherokee had had bows and arrows." "I am the proud parent of a demerit king." Yes, that is the bumper sticker I want on my car. Take care out there... moon_grace.