Got Gum?

Little Meems has always been a fanatic about gum.  From a young age, she was obsessed and was chewing gum way before a child her age should've been.  Luckily, the parenting police never arrested us.  I am sure they were alerted.

We have since learned that gum is helpful for our little girl.  It helps her organize her thoughts.  Some kids need a "fidget" to utilize while completing tasks that are difficult.  You know, the kids who get called out for fidgeting?  Chances are, the fidgeting helps.  I was a fidgeter.  In church, in school, when I was talking, or getting lectured...I remember, all too often, a hand on my knee or a plea to sit still.  In hindsight, I now know that my fidgeting was a way to slow down my brain.  When my body is left to idle, my brain starts going a mile a minute.  Kicking my leg, tapping my eraser to my mouth, talking with my hands...these things reign it all in, make the speed more manageable.

Little Meems is the same.  In her case, gum is key.  She rubs her blanket against her mouth when she's listening intently to a book.  She does cartwheels and handstands when she's studying.  She actually has "homework gum" which she chews while working to organize her thoughts.

Hey, whatever works.

Her teacher is letting the students chew gum for the SOLs.  This, of course, thrills my Little Meems.

I bought her a pack of SOL gum for her last SOL a week or so ago.  It had to be mint.  Apparently, mint stimulates your brain.  A win/win for my gum girl, as it's her favorite.  This morning, I was informed that she needs gum for her mat SOL.

Today.

"I don't have any gum.  Wait, didn't I just buy you some?"

"I ate it all."

"How do you go through an entire pack of gum in one SOL?  It was just a couple hours!"

"It was hard.  The writing SOLs are just so hard."

Writing is her downfall.  A  whole pack of gum...wow, what must it have been like for that little girl who just said "fine!" when I asked her how the test was?  My heart broke a little.  That's a lot of gum.  You do the math.

Which brings us to math.  "I have two pieces of cinnamon gum you can have."

"It has to be mint."

"Well, let me get my magic wand..."

"Maybe my teacher has mint gum."

"Maybe you can trade her two mint for two cinnamon."

"What if it takes more than two?"

I'm off to work, with a stop at Rite Aid on the way in to get a little girl a whole lotta gum.

Mint, of course.

Comments

Awww, poor little Meems during that writing SOL! I was a huge gum chewer as a kid, too..now I hardly ever chew gum!
Kale Solis said…
Great blog post thanks for sharing.

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