A Dose of Humor – Definitely Smarter than an Eighth Grader

5 Minutes for Parenting’s weekly column, A Dose of Humor, is here to remind you to take your humor pill regularly as the best medicine to treat the side effects of parenting! It features a different blogger every week and is hosted by Rachel at Grasping for Objectivity in My Subjective Life. Now you can also join in by linking in your funniest moment of the week in the comments of this post!!

Jana Mathews is a stay-at-home mom to four small children (three born in the same calendar year) in Philadelphia and the author of the popular The Meanest Mom blog. She lives up to her blog title by forcing her children to use utensils, brush their teeth, and occasionally wear seasonally appropriate clothing.


Despite the endless rain, I couldn’t wait another day to see if my national monuments were still intact, or if they were desecrated by eighth graders. We strolled up to Independence Hall just as a tour guide was leading a group of what appeared to be more eighth graders into an antechamber where they would be treated to a ten-minute lecture about the founding fathers.

During the lecture, my children busied themselves digging through the dark cavities of my purse in search of a rogue breath mint or piece of gum. They took a break from their treasure hunting only long enough to answer the tour guide’s questions.

“Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?”
If any of the eighth graders knew the answer, it wouldn’t have mattered. Three hands shot up before the tour guide got to the second word.

“Thomas Jefferson!” screamed Cortlen when called upon.


“Who helped Jefferson write the Declaration of Independence?”

Kellen and Camber waved their arms so wildly that they practically fell out of their chairs. “John Adams! Benjamin Franklin!” they barked in quick succession.

The eighth graders’ teacher stopped me on our way out of the building. “Your children’s knowledge of American history is very impressive,” she told me.

“That’s because they are all geniuses,” I said. I failed to add that my children have heard the same lecture no less than twenty-seven times.

As if to prove my point to someone, if not myself, I rephrased the tour guide’s questions to them on the drive home.

“So who is Thomas Jefferson again?” I asked.

“The first baseman for the Phillies,” answered Cortlen matter-of-factly.

“That’s what I thought,” I replied.

This post was originally published on April 23, 2009 at The Meanest Mom.

If you would like to be considered to be featured in A Dose of Humor, email Rachel at doseofhumor (at) gmail (dot) com.
Join us and link up your funniest moment of the week in the comments below!!!

7 Responses to A Dose of Humor – Definitely Smarter than an Eighth Grader
  1. Suzanne Griscom
    August 28, 2009 | 1:46 pm

    “I earned an extra entry with today’s newsletter.”

  2. Partypoker bonus code
    March 28, 2012 | 9:37 am

    … [Trackback]…

    […] Read More: 5minutesforparenting.com/479/a-dose-of-humor-definitely-smarter-than-an-eighth-grader/ […]…

  3. … [Trackback]…

    […] Read More Infos here: 5minutesforparenting.com/479/a-dose-of-humor-definitely-smarter-than-an-eighth-grader/ […]…

  4. vertaa lennot
    April 14, 2012 | 9:31 am

    … [Trackback]…

    […] Read More: 5minutesforparenting.com/479/a-dose-of-humor-definitely-smarter-than-an-eighth-grader/ […]…

  5. Alexander Mcqueen Mens Dress Shoes
    August 19, 2013 | 7:45 pm

    Hi there, I found your site by way of Google at the same time as searching for a similar
    subject, your web site came up, it seems great.
    I’ve bookmarked it in my google bookmarks.
    Hi there, simply changed into aware of your weblog thru Google, and located that it’s truly informative.
    I am going to be careful for brussels. I will appreciate
    in case you proceed this in future. Many people will be benefited from your writing.
    Cheers!

  6. playtech casino
    September 15, 2013 | 7:16 am

    Howdy! Quick question that’s entirely off
    topic. Do you know how to make your site mobile friendly?

    My website looks weird when viewing from my iphone.
    I’m trying to find a theme or plugin that might be able to resolve
    this issue. If you have any suggestions, please share. Many thanks!

  7. playtech casino
    September 22, 2013 | 3:53 am

    Hey There. I found your weblog using msn. That is a
    really well written article. I will be sure to bookmark it and come back to read
    more of your useful info. Thanks for the post.
    I will definitely comeback.

Leave a Reply to playtech casino

Wanting to leave an <em>phasis on your comment?

Trackback URL https://parenting.5minutesformom.com/479/a-dose-of-humor-definitely-smarter-than-an-eighth-grader/trackback/