Pet's facts or myths?

Have you ever had a pet? Do you have a pet now? Either way, which of the following statements are true?

1. Dogs are color blind

2. Cats always land on their feet

3. If a dog's nose is warm, it means it's sick

4. If a dog is wagging its tail, it is happy

5. A dog's mouth is cleaner than a human's mouth

6. One year of a dog's life is equal to 7 years of a human's life

7. You can't teach an old dog new tricks

8. Cats purr because they are happy

9. Cats can see in the dark

10. Dogs eat grass to throw up

How Should Parents Handle a Bad Report Card?

How do parents react to children report cards? Do you think they should be punished in some way for bad grades? Rewarded for good ones? How? Report card time. That has always been a fairly good day at Alyssa’s house in Houston. This time around, though, things aren’t going so well, and Alyssa’s mother is looking for some advice. Here’s the comment she left Tuesday on an unrelated post:

“My daughter is 12 and in seventh grade. I just found out from her school that they distributed report cards last week and she did not give hers to me. She hid it in a drawer in her room because she didn’t want to be grounded for her low grade of 76 in science. She’s a really good student and kid for the most part. She has starting the teenager back-talk stuff, but she’s over all a really good kid. I have no idea what I should do about her hiding her report card. Should I punish her? Ground her for hiding it? We have an 85 percent rule in the house: her grades need to be 85 percent or above or she is grounded to the house until the next progress report.

Advice on what I should do?

Alyssa’s Mom”

Poll of the readership: how do you handle bad report cards at your house? What do you consider “bad”? Does punishment work? Is the problem here really the report card? Or the hiding? What should Alyssa’s mother do?

Students: Tell us how you you think parents in general — and maybe your parents in particular — should handle bad grades. Should kids be punished for them in some way? Why? Should students be rewarded for good grades? How? What have your parents taught you, explicitly or implicitly, about the role of grades in your school career in general?

Words to learn: report card, punished, rewarded, hid, drawer, stuff, ground.