Trouble in physics city

In the 1980s movie "Moonstruck," Olympia Dukakis proclaims that our ability to accessorize is what distinguishes us from the animals. I'd like to add to that . . ."and our ability to keep our mouths shut."

So here we are again, physics homework redux. A has been sitting in the chair opposite me for going on three hours now. He is reading, calculating, drawing out graphs, and staring at the textbook willing the words to enter his brain and reorganize themselves there in a way that makes sense. It is taking everything in my power not to say anything. Not to urge him to give up, (as I confessed in an earlier post), not to urge him to ask his father for help. Not to keep offering suggestion after suggestion. I wanted to. But I didn't. It is just now dawning on me that every time I intervene, I am depriving him of an experience he needs to have. How can he possibly learn to cope if his parents pop up like gophers anytime there's a hint of trouble?

Tonight, there is trouble, trouble in physics city. It's up to him to make his way home.