To Underline or Not To Underline

I had SUCH a conversation with JT in the car the other day. He was doing a writing practice sheet where he was asked to write about a play he has seen. Why were we doing school in the car you might ask? Well, I had a doctor's appointment, so I loaded up the kids and their schoolwork and took them to Hubby's office to hang out and get their work done. When I retrieved the kiddos 2-1/2 hours later, they spilled the beans that Daddy let them play their DS's the entire time. What a great Daddy. But I digress. My conversation went something like this:


Me: You must underline the name of the play.

Jacob: Why would I do that?

Me: So that people will know it's a play.

Jacob: Mo-o-om, they have to already know that. I'm writing about a play. It says so in the directions.

Me: But when you write the name of the play you must underline it.

Jacob: What's underline mean?

Me: (gritted teeth) Draw a line under it.

Jacob: But there's already a line under it. (He's writing on lined paper.)

Me: (Do I feel those gritted teeth starting to crack?) Add another line so that there are two lines.

Jacob: Do I write it on top of the first line or below it? Either way it will mess up the words I've written.

Me: (Where is that screeching sound coming from?) Just draw it on the line that's already there.

Jacob: But then it will just look like one line again.

Me: Who's on first?