But first she had to make sure the boys were on board with the Experiment. The family room went quiet for a moment as Kiersten’s husband turned off the Monday Night Football game playing on TV. The room erupted in howls of protest.
“We need to talk, guys,” Garrett said. “Family meeting.”
The boys groaned. “Is this about chores?” Matt asked.
“I’ll bet it’s about grades. Mom’s been checking the portal again.” Luke shot Kiersten a resentful look.
“Sit down, boys.” She set a bowl of popcorn in the middle of the kitchen table. “We have some news.”
The boys gathered around the table and began to shovel handfuls of popcorn into their mouths.
She took a deep breath and looked at her husband. He gave her a reassuring smile, and she cleared her throat.
“Okay. So, your dad and I have been talking. And I’ve also been talking with Mrs. Mondello and Ms. Hensler across the street. And we’d like to pull you guys out of school for the rest of the year.”
Silence enveloped the room. Then wild whoops of joy exploded through the kitchen, making her ears ring.
“Are youserious?”
“This is the best newsever.”
“No school?At all?”
Her husband raised his hands in the air to silence the whooping. “Please, guys. Let your mother finish.”
So far so good. Kiersten squared her shoulders and launched into the rest of the proposal, the part they might not be so enthusiastic about. The school-at-home part. The no-sports-or-activities part.
When she finished, Matt shrugged. “I’m okay with that.”
Kiersten couldn’t hide her shock. “You are?” She’d expected an argument, or at least a negotiation of some sort.
“Baseball isn’t fun anymore, since I’m not playing with my friends. And my shoulder aches all the time. I don’t mind taking a break.”
“Me too,” Luke said.
Johnny ran around the table, waving his hands in the air like a joyful berserker. “This isawesome.”
Garrett gently steered him back to his seat. “There’s more. Your mom’s not done.”
“Yeah,” Kiersten said, bracing herself for the reaction to the rest of her announcement. “Wait till you hear the next part.”
The boys looked at her warily. “Are you going to make us do IXL?” Luke asked, naming the hated online “tool” the school assigned in addition to homework.
“Or CK-12?” Matt asked, naming the other online education app the boys most loathed.
“The opposite actually.” Kiersten took a deep breath. “No school also means no electronics. No devices. No phones. No iPads or video games.”
The reaction was swift and outraged. “What?”
“Mom, you can’tdothat.”
“That’s like . . . notconstitutional.”
Garrett smiled. “There is nothing in the Bill of Rights about an inalienable right toMinecraft.”
“So no video gamesever?”
“I talked to the other moms, and you guys can have your devices for one hour on Wednesday nights,” Kiersten said. “You can use that time to text or FaceTime friends. You can play video games. But that’sit. The rest of the time we keep all your devices locked up in the fire safe with the passports and the birth certificates.”
