evils of perfection

Small brought me his maths homework last night.

‘I know this answer isn’t right’ he correctly volunteered. ‘But I don’t know how to do it so I guessed a number and added 2 to it.’

I took a closer inspection and the rest of the homework was pretty much in line with what the teacher had requested. And I have this thing about perfect homework so I immediately agreed that he could kick a football in the garden.

Honestly, there really is NO place for perfect homework in this world. Not only does it feel manufactured, bad and wrong, it also happens to be poor preparation for any future life.

In fact, from where I’m sitting, perfection in general is a bit of a curse. Unrelenting, non-authentic and with very few upsides, I’d strongly advise those who feel the need to dot every i. Because the harsh reality is that nothing perfect is sustainable, especially as we live in a society flooding us with unattainable expectations around every topic imaginable. How often we eat our greens, have sex, save money, spend time with our children/elderly parents, exercise, cook from scratch…. the list is nothing short of exhausting.

So join my gang in being slightly messy, that little bit imperfect and do add a random 2 to any sum you don’t know how to do…