I am frittering. Oh, and doing laundry, sure, but frittering just the same. I fritter away a mean day, I do. I have

• Actually done the tutorial for a new piece of software I’m trying out (Scrivener).
• Found a rawhide for the dog.
• Done the email thing.
• More email.
• Did I mention laundry?
• I don’t know. I’ve been “working” for five hours, though. 5 hours and 25 minutes, actually. That’s embarrassing. I mean, even with the laundry.

Seriously? Frittered away yesterday, too. Fritter, fritter. I am all for some frittering, but I like to leaven it with actual activities. For example, yesterday I meant to take an hour and do a puzzle with the kids or something instead of just doing pretty nothing all day, but I didn’t. And this morning when I finally read my email I found one from Sam’s science teacher. He had a test today. He should have studied yesterday. He could have studied yesterday. He did not.

I recognize that there’s an argument that that is not my responsibility.  And I was going to muse on it here, when it occurred to me that this is a bigger question, suited for a bigger audience. So I switched forums, over to the XXFactor blog. If you struggle with how much you should help your kid with his homework, I hope the conversation will start there.