I’m in the mood to write something political, but nothing is catching my attention right now. Domestically, we’re on hold as the cabinet gets reshuffled. Can’t say much about that, other than “nice color system, Ridge.” And the major things that are going on, like the Ukraine, are outside of my expertise. Can’t say much, other than “go good guys.” I thought about writing about the recent developments in NY’s school finance case, which is important and all, but snore-city.

In the two minutes that I have before Ian wakes up for his nap, let me just write something personal.

Tonight I have Jonah’s parent-teacher conference, and I’m torn about what to say.

On the one hand, he’s certainly not being challenged. He’s coloring pages in workbooks (god, I hate workbooks) that are so easy. Big v. little. Red v. Yellow. He adds in his head now and could be doing much more advanced stuff at school. Same for reading.

On the other, he’s having a good time. He likes his friends. He likes getting everything right. At this age, isn’t having fun more important than doing sums?

Do I say anything to the teacher? I could risk alienating her and getting a reputation. But he really should be challenged. Not only because being challenged is good, but because our world is getting more competitive. Should I worry about competition from more driven nations? Do our kids need to be smarter than we are?