Too Tired to Be a Second Grader at Mendham Township Elementary School

I had spent the day hard at work on a Confidential Information Memorandum for one of our investment banking clients (let's call it Project "Rocket Science"), and had just about used up my quota of brain cells for the day, maybe even the week. Not to mention feeling a bit under the weather with my first cold of the season. Add a beer to the equation... Killian's Irish Red. Then Maddie asked me for help on her second grade math and logic puzzle homework tonight. She had finished most of the assignment, leaving only the toughest problems for mom to help out on. There were words in circles and other words not in circles, and somehow you were supposed to guess what the non-circle words had in common with each other and did not have in common with the circle words. Here's a sample problem that Maddie said was easy...the circle words are teddy bear, doll, and blanket; outside the circle words are pants, scissors, and pliers. Well, not only am I NOT smart enough to be a fourth grader, I am too tired to be a second grader! Here's the trick...turns out the words outside the circle come in pairs. I think I'll put on a pair of pajamas, grab my teddy bear, and get into bed early so I can wake up tomorrow morning smart enough to be a second grader, third grader, and an investment banker.