Charlie was upstairs, supposedly in bed trying to sleep. Emily and I were downstairs, watching TV. Just now we heard her running busily about and then a loud crashing noise. Emily yelled upstairs, "Charlie, what are you doing?"
"Well, I wasn't standing on the toilet trying to reach the nail polish so I could paint my toenails blue and then I fell off, that's for sure."
Friday was a Free Dress day at my school. My students usually wear uniforms - khaki pants/black-watch plaid skirts, dress shirts, and sweaters. But about once a month or so, they get to wear whatever they want, as long as it's "appropriate" (no beer T-shirts or bare-midriff tops - not even for staff. *pout*)
Imagine my surprise when A*, one of our second-grade boys (7 years old), checked in wearing a suit and tie. He looked adorable. He came right up to me and asked, "Ms. B, did you notice what I'm wearing?"
"A*, I could hardly miss it. You're so ... formal today. You look so handsome."
"Thank you. Did you smell me?"
Since he'd apparently bathed in his dad's cologne that morning, I could, indeed, smell him. I hastened to assure him of that.
Then he ran off to play soccer. Some of the older boys swooped down upon him, demanding to know why he was so elaborately dressed.
"I heard Ms. B say she liked a sharp-dressed man."
OK, first off, I have no recollection of ever having said this - certainly not to the second graders. But how freaking adorable????
And he's right - nothing better than a sharp-dressed man. Even when he's a second grader. Especially when he's a second grader, maybe.
Last night, Emily finished her report on "The Good Earth". I really don't like the book. I just don't. I find it ineffably depressing.
But it never, ever occurred to me to question that she has spent the last month studying this book - even though it deals with some pretty sexual topics.
And yet here's a California school district banning the dictionary because, guess what, folx, it has some words in it that are naughty. We certainly can't expose our tender youth to that.
They didn't just pull Webster's from primary shelves - they removed all dictionaries from all the schools in the district.
Better get rid of those calculators next. We can't have our kids exploring the wonders of 5318008 either.
And they seriously wonder why the US lags behind other "progressive" nations? Seriously? I can't imagine...
Just came downstairs to find Charlie exercising along with the woman on TV. I asked her what she was doing - because it was somewhat unexpected to see her doing modified push-ups in her princess nightgown.
I've spent most of the week getting my classroom ready for school to start. Tonight I've been organizing my new lesson plan book and gradebook. Just now, I've been entering my students' names. All 11 of them. I'm exhausted.
disappointed
relieved
amused
satisfied
touched
shocked