Snippets from the Week

HI FRIENDS!  Bet you thought I forgot about you!  I definitely didn’t, but this week was super busy.  I am taking a class for an endorsement I need for my teaching certificate this quarter, so I have classes on Monday and Wednesday nights.  It’s the last of the six classes I need for my ESOL endorsement, and, goodness, is this a horrible facilitator that I have!  She keeps us for the entire three hour block of time, even after we have finished our work for the night.  She just keeps us there telling us stupid stories about her personal life and teaching career.  I’m sure she is a really nice lady, but at 8:00 at night after a full day of teaching, just let me go home, woman!  Ugh!

I also had Open House this week at my school, which is always a fun night.  I really like meeting the parents of my students.  It’s nice to talk a bit about my teaching philosophies and classroom practices, and it’s even nicer to see parents nodding their heads along in support.  I have great students this year (the best in a while, actually!), and their parents are just as good.

On top of those things, we had beginning of the year parent/teacher conferences with both Bean and Gracie’s teachers before and after school today and yesterday.  Both kids are doing great in school.  Chris and I couldn’t be prouder of them and their big smart heads and even bigger, kinder hearts.

Throughout the busy week, I’ve had my family to keep me laughing.  It’s always nice to have people around who remind you to take a deep breath and pause for just a minute.  Lucky for me, all my pauses this week have been pretty funny.

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I bought me and the kids new electric toothbrushes last weekend.  You would not think this was that big of a deal, but, apparently, it’s grounds for divorce in my house.  Chris was appalled that I didn’t bring him one home, too. He pitched a fit in the kitchen when I got back from the grocery store, whining about how I didn’t even care about HIS toothbrush.

“I didn’t think you would have used an electric one,” I said to him, as I unloaded groceries.  “Do you want an electric toothbrush?”

“Well, no,” he said.  “I like the one I have.”

*eye roll*

Later that night, we were brushing our teeth before bed.  Me with my electric toothbrush and Chris with his regular one.  A few seconds into it, Chris starts making this buzzing sound, mimicking my electric toothbrush.

“Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…”

“Stop,” I said, still brushing.

“Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzz… Just making a point,” he said. “Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz….”

“Do you want me to get you an electric toothbrush, Chris?”

“Buzzzzzzzzzz… No,” he said.  “Buzzzzzzzzzz…  I have one…  Buzzzzzzzzzz…”

*******

This morning, I was emptying out Bean’s lunchbox from yesterday so I could repack it with lunch for today.  I opened it up to find an empty Doritos bag.  I didn’t pack him a Doritos bag.

“Bean,” I said.  “Where did you get this Doritos bag?”

“Oh,” he said, shrugging.  “I got it from the cafeteria line.”

“But you bring your lunch,” I said.  “Why were you in the cafeteria line?”

He rolled his eyes as if I just didn’t get it.  “Because I was getting my Doritos!” he said.

“Did you bring money from home to buy yourself Doritos?” I asked.  At this point, I was completely confused.

“NO, MOM!” he said, exasperated.  “You can just TAKE them!”

“Uh… No, you can’t,” Chris chimed in.  “Dude, you have to pay for those.”

“No, you don’t,” Bean laughed.  “You just get in line and go through and then just take them off that little cart at the end before you leave!”

Chris and I just stood there, speechless.

“Bean!  You’re stealing!  That’s stealing!  You have to pay for those, buddy!”

“Mom,” Bean giggled.  “You can do it.  Austin does it all the time.”

“Hey,” Chris snapped, pointing his finger at Bean. “Stop taking Doritos from school.  And tell Austin to stop, too.”

“You’re so funny, Dad,” Bean said, as he cleared his breakfast dishes.

*******

Tonight at the dinner table, Bean asked for a pet to keep in his bedroom.  We tried to insist that that was what Daisy was for, but he didn’t fall for it.  He wants a hamster.

“If you keep your room clean until Christmas, I’ll buy you a hamster for Christmas,” I told him, feeling pretty comfortable with my side of that deal.

“How about me?!  If I keep my room clean, can I get a hamster?!?!” Gracie chimed in.

“Gracie, if you keep your room clean, I’ll buy you a pony.  I’ll buy you a castle.  I’ll buy you a car.  In fact, if you keep your room clean until Christmas, I’ll buy you a pony, a castle, AND a car!”  I said laughing, thinking about her bedroom and how I haven’t seen the carpet in there in weeks.

Chris leaned over to me, “Normally, I would not think this was a good bet to make, but with Gracie, I feel like that’s a safe bet.”

*******

Earlier this week, Gracie was writing some sentences for school.  She read her sentence out to me.  “It is fall.  Pyramid.  See the leaves fall.  Pyramid.  I love fall.  Pyramid.”

“Gracie,” I asked her.  “Why do you keep saying ‘pyramid’?”

“You know, the pyramids at the end of the sentences.”

“Those are called PERIODS, Sweet Pea.”

“Oh.”

*******

Y’all have a happy weekend!