Failure Identified

There are many items that I have stored in my brain from childhood which are very old, yet very handy:
-Instructions on how to ride a bike
-Multiplication facts
-The name of the state where I reside
-How to make change
-What a properly formed topic sentences includes
-The definition of H2O

These are just a few smatterings of the things I learned in grade school, and have continued to keep close to the recall button in my mind. There are many more. I won't bore you with details.

Last night I was helping my 8th grade daughter with some history homework. She pulled out a map of the United States. Most of the previously blank map was filled in with the name of the state, and a few were still left nameless.

"Mom, isn't this where Nebraska goes?"
"Honey, I don't know, look on the computer."
"Really mom, you don't know? Didn't you teach fifth grade?"
"Yes, that doesn't mean that I memorized where every state goes just because I taught it to my fifth graders."
She was obviously disappointed with my lack of knowledge.

Knowing the location of every state on a blank map of the U.S. would be one of those items which has slipped far away from the recall button in my mind, but I do know this:

We live on the west coast along with Washington, and Oregon. New York is on the east coast with New Jersey, Maine, Rhode Island, and Florida. I know there are more, but I do not want to impress you with my wealth of knowledge.

Michigan is up by the lakes, along with Ohio. Down below is Texas and New Mexico, Louisiana, and Arizona.

Up on top is Montana and North Dakota.

Don't ask me anything more than those basics. I am on a need to know only basis with the states and their location, and for now, that is all that I need to know.

In order to help my children with their homework, I may have to repeat 5th grade, either that, or return my teaching credential. It may not count for much anymore if I cannot properly name every state, and "no" I am not smater than a fifth grader.