Ya gotta have friends...

A kindergarten boy handed me a note today. It said, "My dad said hi."

My first thought was, "Oh boy, I have a secret admirer!"

My second thought was, "Who is your dad and how does he know me, and what in the world is your name?" (There are 600 kids at our school and I don't know all their names.)

He then told me that while his dad drove him to school today they were discussing Halloween and how they had knocked on my door for candy and his dad wanted him to tell me hello for him.

I told little kinder cub boy to say, "Hi" back to his dad for me.

Little kinder cub boy then asked me if I had any friends. I told him I had lots of friends. He asked me how many. I told him at least a hundred. He clearly wasn't impressed. He told me he only had one. The one and only friend was standing next to him and she told me that she only had one friend too and pointed at kinder cub boy. Kinder cub boy said, "You better say that!"

Then kinder cub boy cupped his little hand around his mouth as he stepped closer to my desk and whispered, "My dad's name is Paul in case you wanted to know."

"I'll keep that in mind when I'm looking for friend one hundred and one."

Great minds think alike and fools seldom differ...

I remember trying to impress this guy on a date once with my brilliant mind. Anyone who is reading this is probably shaking their head and saying, "What kind of guy asks a girl out because he is attracted to her mind?"

I didn't know then that most men weren't interested in my intelligence.
So, I'm on this date, trying to be clever, and witty, and entertaining, so cute guy will fall hopelessly in love with me, and I blurt out the following observation while driving to our destination, "You know _ (leaving out cute guys name to protect his credibility)_ some smart people have brains!"

Yep... I said that.

I'm pretty sure that was the one and only date we ever went on. In fact I think he turned the car around right then and there and took me home. He couldn't risk having stupid children in his future.

Gifts

I receive some interesting gifts from students.

The most memorable gift I ever received was a miniature bottle of Jack Daniel's from a girl in second grade. It's made with a chocolate shell and filled with liqueur.

When I asked how she came to have something like that in her possession, she told me that her mother had a lot of them and liked them very much.

I suppose if you have a lot of them - and - eat them all at the same time -you would like them very much too:-)

I still have that little bottle.

Cheers!

Words have meaning and names have power. ~Author Unknown

A conversation I had with "Smiley Face" balloon kid yesterday. He's a first grade student and I'll call him "L".

Me: I saw you at the store yesterday.

L : You did? What was I doing?

Me: You were with your Sister, and your Mom and Dad.

L : Oh...

Me: What's your sister's name?

L : Her name is Madeline, but don't call her that!

Me: Why not?

L : She doesn't like it.

Me: What does she like to be called?

L : She likes to be called something different every day.

Me: Like what?

L : Like...Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, or sometimes, dog, cat, and turtle....

Me: (laughing) Why?

L : Because I like to be called different names I guess, and she's copying me.

Me : That's interesting.

L : Yes it is. You can call me, "Common House Finch" if you like, or you can just call me, "Finch".

Me: I think I'll just call you "L". What's your sisters name for today?

L : "Pig"...

Me: Of course it is.

Letters, I get letters...

From time to time I get adorable thank you notes and letters from some of the students. I thought I would share one with you. The words and spelling are copied letter for letter from the original. This is from a first grade student.

Dear Mrs. Q.,

Thank you for letting as news your books. We like youar books so much because there are so much books about stuff about tose thighs.

Love, A.

I wonder where the section in the library is that carries books about "tose thighs"...perhaps Non-Fiction?

What are "tose thighs"?

I happened to ask the student who wrote me the note what "tose thighs" meant.

She laughed and said, "You know!" and looked at me like I was silly for asking.

So, I pretended I did and thanked her graciously for her note...what else could I do? She was so convincing:-)

Huh?

I had this conversation with a fifth grade student.


Student: "Mrs. Q. ... Can I check out a book the library doesn't own?"

Me: (Going for simple logic) "If we don't own it you wouldn't be able to check it out."

Student: "No! You don't understand...I want to check out a book you don't have."

Me: (Realizing that I am not going to get anywhere with this conversation) "It's not here."

Student: "Okay, can I check it out next time?"

Me: (sigh) " ... Sure."

Is that a...?

This little one is in kindergarten.


While the students were standing in line today to check out books one of them pointed at my computer and asked, "Is that a pencil sharpener?"