Math story problems for moms

Image by Pixapopz from Pixabay

After a month of attempting to my help my 8-year-old son with his homework, I have to say I'm a bit worried about whoever writes his story problems for math.

Actual math problem: Jack sees 12 birthday presents on the table, and 30 presents in the closet. How many birthday presents is he getting in total?

Wait, what? Why is this child getting 42 presents for his birthday? Can we just set the bar a little lower, please? I've never gotten 42 presents for anything, except my wedding, and I had to split those.

Here are some story problems that reflect real life a lot better, in my opinion.

1. Mom is supervising 3 hours of remote school and 2 hours of homework per day. How many total hours of unpaid labor per day is she working?
   
2. Mom has decided everyone should wear their clothes for 3 days in a row since no one is going anywhere. How many loads of laundry is she still doing?
   
3. Mom had done 2 jigsaw puzzles with 500 pieces for each puzzle. How long did it take her to finish each puzzle?
   
4. Mom can only binge-watch television after her two children go to sleep. How many hours of television can she watch each day?
   

Answer key:

1. 12,765 billion hours.
2. Somehow it's the same amount of laundry!
3. She will never finish because there's always a missing piece.
4. One hour if she's lucky.

Nina Snyder is the author of ABCS OF BALLS and the designer of the HOT PINK ORCHARD JOURNAL. Follow her on Twitter @nsnyder_writer.