Most brilliant ideas come at 1:00 AM

If I understood this government bailout thing Bush speaks of, I would say do it but charge interest. They'd do it to Joe Public, right? Ivan added that they should add a clause that says they can change the rules anytime they wanted, just like the financial institutions do. This was what I was thinking at 1:00 AM after dealing with second grade, excuse me, just found out that it is third grade, math earlier that afternoon.

I consider myself a reasonably intelligent person. I can even be above average if I focus. But this math thing is making me feel like, well, not so much. We bought Joaquin a math book this summer to try to keep him busy. There is a section on the guess and check problem-solving method. Word problems. I hate word problems. So I'm looking them over and trying to come up with the answers. I can't. So I look at the back of the book and I become even more confused when I know the freaking answers.

Here is the sample question: "Neptune and Mars have a total of ten moons. Neptune has six more moons than Mars. How many moons does each planet have?" So Joaquin and I are trying work through the question and I say, "We need to find out how many moons Neptune and Mars have." To me, the problem might as well have read, "Blah, blah blah blah blah..."

Joaquin quickly says, "Mars has two moons." I'm still trying to figure out the problem and, already a little exasperated, I tell him to wait before he guesses and I go over the example some more. And he says again that Mars has two moons.

At this point, I'm thinking my kid is brilliant. So I look him square in the eye and ask him, "How did you get that Mars has two moons?"

"I read it in a book at school."

Well, there you go, my friends, that is how you solve math problems. You read about them in a book.

I may not be such an idiot after all.