Better excuses than “The dog ate my homework”

Homework can be beneficial. It can teach you to take responsibility for your part in the education process, give you a chance to revise class material and can even help you learn time management.

However, whether we actually do our homework by ourselves or copy from those who did it themselves, there are times when we don't have homework ready. This is when we need to make up excuses. Since not submitting homework on time is an occurrence that has been far too common for far too long, new excuses are now a necessity. Here are some examples of excuses better than the dog ate my homework.

My home tutor wasn't there: This is a dirty secret that is not really much of a secret. A huge number of children have tutors at home to assist them with their school work. With home tutors, you get more attention and more time. In fact, you sometimes get enough time to have them do the homework you're supposed to be doing.

This will never be useful so I didn't bother to spend time on it: We all have our list of things we studied in school and never needed again. But we weren't all sure as to exactly what we wanted to do and be when we grew up. Some people did however. They know that paying attention during Mathematics is not really necessary for them to be able to fulfil their dreams as a singer. So if these rare creatures hate a subject, they can't be bothered to care about it in the classroom or at home.

I broke up with my girlfriend: Every person has fallen in love in their lives, even your grouchy uncles, aunties, and teachers. This is why they explicitly forbid you from dating people you like. It's not only because they think it won't work out and you will get your heart broken, it's because they – sometimes from personal experience – know how much of an impact a relationship can have on a young person. While they can express their anger and disappointment at you for being giddy because you're in a new relationship, they can't really get mad at you when you're heartbroken. Of course they might remind you that they told you getting into a relationship was a bad idea, but at least they won't exactly yell at you and might even sympathise with you.

It was my cousin's wedding last week: Every Bengali person knows how long their weddings can get. They know there will probably be 20000 guests, choreographed dance numbers (which they will still perform badly after 6 months of practice), and several rituals, some of which they might have created just to keep the wedding going longer and eat more. Moreover, marriage continues to be a very important institution in our society so the celebration of one is not only seen as logical but almost essential by some people. Some teachers even allow extended deadlines for homework submission upon hearing this excuse. However, you may need to show proof for this one to be believed. How? Don't ask me.

Hate it or hate it from the very bottom of your heart, homework isn't disappearing soon. Spare yourself the tension and get done with it as quickly as possible, because it's hard to come up with good excuses as to why you couldn't spare 30 minutes of your time in one whole week to complete an assignment.

Matilda likes to pretend she is invisible and inconspicuous. Tell her that you can read right through her at matilda.tilda1234@gmail.com