Its Time To Re-Evaluate My Decision Making Paradigm

In one of my favorite movies of all time, (Sahara), the main characters are having a conversation about all the goobers of the past that they use to know and how they were all destined to fail at life. They are having this dicussion because it has become clear that they might also be members of this goober crew, and despite having great educations and once limitless potential, life has dealt them a curveball. So instead of making millions and running for president, they are riding camels in the middle of the African Desert looking for an old civil war ship that was rumored to have wrecked there. That is when the side-kick says to the main character Dont you think it is time to re-evaluate our decision making paradigm?

I am very blessed to be where I am and doing what I am doing. Today was the beginning of my second week of work tutoring two american kids in math. For me it is the perfect job. It combines all the things I like to do.....work with children, teach math, and speak english. But in class this morning I had one of those moments that gave me reason to pause and question my decision making paradigm. It happened when I was trying to explain basic fractions using the classic slice the picture in half example. The conversation happened a few hours ago, so there is a chance that all of the words recorded here did not actually occur but because I rely so heavily on my memory (which is like relying heavily on winning the lottery this week so that you can pay for last weeks expenses which include, but are not limited to, electric bill, cell phone bill, and the last failed attempt to win the lottery bill), it is the only window into the past that we can look through.

Me: Using your pencil, please draw a line and cut the picture of the muffin into halves.

My Student: You mean the cupcake?

Me: Sure, we can call it a cupcake if you want. Now cut it into halves so you can share it with someone else

My Student: I really like cupcakes and dont want to share.

Me: Well it really isnt a cupcake, it is clearly a muffin and nobody likes muffins so it shouldnt be a problem for you to cut it into halves.

My Student: I hate muffins and dont even want to eat half.

Me: You might be missing the point here. The goal is not to discuss the food items we like and dislike, but rather we are just suppose to be cutting things in half.

My Student: Can we cut class time in half?

It is important to note that one side of my brain graduated from an accredited university with a degree in mechanical engineering, can have legit conversations in 4 languages, and once defeated my own 2nd grade math teacher in a timed test over a variety of addition, subtraction, and multiplication problems. But for whatever reason, I choose to live using the other half of my brain. Its the half that is looking forward to tonights episode of Duas Caras, my favorite Brazilian soap opera, not because I can understand anything they say (because I cant) but because one of the characters looks like Paul Sr. from American Choppers. Its also the half that wakes up at 7am to ride a bus for 2 hours and have quasi-arguments with 8 year olds about the differences between muffins and cupcakes.
Maybe I should re-evaluate my decision making paradigm, but frankly I am having too much fun to be bothered with that.