Tales of a Third Grade Troublemaker

Danny was telling stories to Katie and James of when he was in first and third grade.   I was enjoying all the laughter coming from the room, so I listened in closer to hear some of the tales. All but one of the stories ended with , "...then the teacher got really mad and I had to write an apology note." (11/20/12)

Settling It Like Real Men

James and his 3 friends were getting ready to play a game and were deciding on teams. They were repeatedly at odds over who should be partners, their voices escalating to a shout to be heard over the others. James shouted, "Wait! We are going to settle this like real men!" There was an immediate quiet when James began rolling up his sleeves. After a short pause, all 4 boys shouted simultaneously, "ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS, SHOOT!" (10/21/12)

The Label

One of the handwritten dividers in Danny's binder is labeled "Grammer". Oh, the irony. (9/10/12)

The Water Dispenser

We have a water and ice dispenser on the outside of our refrigerator door and I used it to give James and his friend some ice water. Watching me fill the cups, James' friend remarked, "Wow! How cool!" and James responded with, "Yeah, we have unlimited water in our house." (9/22/12)

The Bright Side

As the last week of summer vacation was coming to a close, Danny had been dreading the start of school, Katie had been anxiously awaiting it, and James had been rather ambivalent about the whole thing. As we were driving home from a party on Labor Day, James said to me, "I'm pretty happy to be starting school tomorrow. Now I can start looking forward to summer again."  Now that's what I call a true optimist. (9/3/12)

The Bedtime Story Question

In a bedtime story I was reading to Katie, a little girl brought her unicorn to Kindergarten.  It said in the book that the unicorn was very good at counting because everyone knows that unicorns are great at math.  Katie interrupted the story and asked, "Is that true?  Are unicorns really good at math?"  I said, " Well, that's what the story says."  She said, "No. I'm serious.  Are unicorns good at math in real life?"  (7/1/12)

Daddy's Favorite Girl

Katie and I were playing a game of shuffleboard when she turned to Tom and asked, "Daddy, who are you rooting for?"  Tom happily replied, "I'm rooting for my girl!"  She paused for a moment, looked over at me, then turned back to him and said,  "Which girl?"  With a wry smile, he said, "Why, my favorite girl, of course!"  With a look of relief, Katie smiled satisfactorily said, "Oh good, that's me." (6/27/12)