You know your child is going into 2nd grade when....

*Everything is stated as a question

*Every question starts with "But Mom, why....."

*Your sweet baby discovers sarcasm... and uses it on you!

*Mom realizes homework is now the child's responsibility, not hers

*More independence means more for Mom to clean up with heavy duty cleaners

*Several new businesses are started in your living room whenever you make them turn off the TV

*Little brothers(or sisters) suddenly start counting backwards

*Practical jokes and knock knock jokes are discovered and practiced, over and over again

*They can take a shower by themself and NOT soak the bathroom

*Bedtime routines are no longer needed, or so you are told. Then you are back in the room in 5 minutes to tuck them in anyway when they can't fall asleep

*Parents can no longer spell out words we don't want them to hear

*they start eyeing the knives during shared cooking time and assure you they can cut without bleeding.. and it's true

*New words start coming out of their mouths.. you know, those words
that are so bad they'd never DARE utter when they were in first grade.. things like stupid,shut up, dumb, loser, and the occasional, edge of your seat "crap!" - this should just happen once if parents are paying attention

*Parents start fervently praying "Lord, let _____ be kind to others and follow the rules and not embarrass me in public."

*The grocery bill starts to go up as the appetite increases

*Moms have to teach the basics of color coordinating and clothes matching to boys and "how to put your hair up in a pony tail" to girls

*Back to School night includes the phrases "independent learning", "where we turn boys into men", and "responsibility" more times than you care to count