You guys are nice moms! My parents very rarely helped me with homework or projects. In fifth grade I had to make a totem pole, and all I could think of was to carve potatoes and put them on a shish-ke-bab skewer. The paint didn't stay on the carved (wet) parts of the poptato

and what I hadn't anticipated is that the carved parts got shriveled and brown by the next morning when I got to school. Other kids had awesome professional-looking projects... I didn't understand how they did it. Now I get it.
Another time, maybe 7th grade, I was doing a science project. My partner's parents had some leftover deck stain, so we decided to paint some pieces of wood with different stains and compare how the different brands held up to days in the freezer and heat treatments in the oven. The only help I got was "you are
not doing that in
my house!" It turned out pretty lame looking. Other kids had better ideas and slicker displays.