(shameless parental bragging below.  you can skip if you like)

Eric’s a really smart kid (he gets that from me), but sometimes he gets in trouble at school because he has kind of a lackadaisical attitude towards turning stuff in and completing homework (he gets that from Jenny).  So anyway, he had all sorts of problems last year that we finally got straightened out by the end of the year, but he missed some basic math.  When this year started, he was doing 2 digit multiplication in is head, but he’d sometimes mess something trivial up, and since he didn't know how to do the problem on paper, he wouldn't catch the mistake and would get the problem wrong.  When that was coupled with forgetting his homework on occasion, he ended up with an F in math during the first grading period, and an F is a major problem.  After some review work though, he got an A this marking period, and his teacher is happy with him.

Jenny and I are really happy too.  We’re taking him to the circus this weekend as a reward (well, it’s also for Alex’s birthday, but Eric didn't necessarily have to come)

(He still forgets to hand in his homework sometimes.  We’ll get to that later)