I Dream of Kindergarten Teacher With the Long Blonde Hair

Beauty in the day: let’s face it – the Aussie is getting a “fair dinkum” amount of air time lately. This morning he came to the Office, and attempts were made to give him service, but he said he was waiting for Ms. Nordstrom (I can’t let him down now!!). So I made myself available. “Hi Friend, what’s up?”
He was hesitant to say, but finally (and carefully) let it be known that his pants were “perhaps just a little bit wet.” It has to be said here that this is not the first time (not even the seventh time) he has come in with this concern. In fact, it has become apparent that “wet” means “at some point a very insignificant measurement of moisture may have possibly been present – or not”.
“Oh – do you think you might need to have a change of pants, then?” I’ll admit it – this question was asked with the slightest air of incredulity, because we have had this conversation not quite a gazillion times. Still, I didn’t want to squash his thoughts, so I left the question on the table – er, desk. This seemed to send little Aussie into a new thought process, and (well, let’s just say it) he sort of “re-checked” his status.
“Actually (FYI – this is a VERY popular word in elementary school), I think the wet may have gotten absorbed.”
“Absorbed? You mean, you think you might not need to change, then?”
“Yes, I don’t think I need to now.”
“Friend! That’s great news! PLUS, I am REALLY impressed with your great vocabulary word! ABSORB!! Wow! You are really smart to use a word like that! We should tell your teacher how well you have used that word!”
He smiled a soft little smile (these are the kinds that he smiles). “Oh, I didn’t learn the word from my 1st grade teacher. My Kindergarten teacher taught it to me last year.”
Oh, Kindergarten-Teacher-With-the-Long-Blonde-Hair, nice job.

Different Day Down Under

Beauty in the day: he was feeling “confused” – things here are a bit different than they are Down Under, it would seem. “Excuse me, but I am confused about Martin Luther King Jr. Day. I think perhaps last year we did go to school on his birthday, because it was on a different day than it is this year.” We had a talk about “how things work”, and he chewed on this a bit, and then announced that he was very confused about the next upcoming holiday. “Which holiday would that be?” I asked.
“Memorial Day, and it’s in May,” he explained. “I’m wondering if it will get cancelled.”
“Oh no, it certainly won’t get cancelled. It’s a national holiday.”
“Yes, but we didn’t have that one in Australia.”
“Well, no, I suppose not. But here we do have it.”
“But perhaps it will get cancelled if the people that do it get sick.”
“The people that do it?”
“Yes, the people that are in charge of the holiday. If they get sick, it would be cancelled.”
“Oh no, it most certainly will not be cancelled. It’s a national holiday. There is no one in charge – all the people celebrate it together – no one ‘does’ it. We ALL ‘do’ it.”
He liked that, and started to go, but then stopped and turned.
“In Australia they still talk about the Civil War.”
Time to go back to class – I saw a bunny trail looming. After all, the kid had a Guest Teacher today.

Crabapple for the Teacher

Beauty in the day: first grade teacher came into the office with the express intent to give some help with challenges to the friend she had by the hand. She smiled and spoke to him in encouraging and uplifting tones. It made me smile too. I re-checked my morning email. Wait – there it was – she DID, in fact, send me an email this morning claiming to be in a very grouchy mood. I’m never believing her emails again.
‪#‎oscarthegrouchindeed‬

Arrow Shirt

Beauty in the day: it’s the little 1st grade Aussie. He came in today with a concern that his “arrow shirt” may have been abducted from the Lost and Found. We talked about thoughts a bit, and discussed the possible meaning of hearsay. And then I sent him back to class.
He returned not long after, looking to have a word with the school counselor. He wasn’t in his office, but then my good mate found him on his own, and the next thing I knew, the counselor was at my desk with the lad. “Ms. Nordstrom, can you help my friend by taking down his description of his lost shirt?” I said I would (of course). He talked about the background color, and the arrows that went back and forth and up and down. He gave a good description, right up to the “and inside there is a little tag, and I thinks it says 100% cotton”. Directly following was this choice (and important) bit of intel: “and the shirt is a size 6, but the boy who may have taken it is in the fourth grade, and it will not fit him.”
Somewhere out there is a 10-year-old toting around a little arrow shirt. Or not.