Skipping the Homework

We skipped the homework, Mrs. Graide

We skipped it because Tom was overworked

Very much overworked

He started looking at the math

And the next thing I knew

He'd burst into tears

Now, I realize homework is important

But it simply can't be more important

Than mental health

And I was very concerned

For Tom's mental health, Mrs. Graide

So I took him out

I took him to the city

I know that this wasn't exactly

The most parental thing I could do

But it was the only thing I could think of

Especially considering

That I just dropped him off

Well, he is seventeen after all

And he did have three friends with him

And considering in six months

I'll have absolutely no say

In anything that he does

It didn't seem like THAT crazy an idea

Mrs. Graide, don't you remember the feeling you had

The first time you did something on a school night

Other than eat dinner and do homework?

...Oh...

...Well, it's quite a feeling, let me tell you

Mrs. Graide, my son, for one night

Stopped worrying about college admissions

And applications and deadlines

And test scores and letters of recommendation

And for one night

He was a kid again

He went to a mall and ate in the food court

He hung out at a college coffee shop

He kissed his girlfriend for the first time

On the top floor of the Tanner Building

(No, I have no clue how he got up there

But what a place to have a first kiss!)

For one night, he got to feel

That thrill that comes

From doing things

You're not supposed to do

Because once he's off at college

All the things he's not supposed to do

Will lead to me getting a plane ticket

And heading across the country

To place him under dorm arrest

Last night

He was happy

And at my insistence

He skipped the homework

So I have come in here

To tell you

That I allowed my son

To skip his homework

And to request that you allow him

To make it up

Should you choose not to

There's nothing I can do about that

But I am at least asking

For you to consider it

Oh, and I also told him

He could take the day off

After all that excitement

Who could get up at 6am

To do Trig?

Hahaha...

See you at graduation