It's All About You, Isn't It

This morning I was explaining to my 5th graders that our English text hasn't been updated for over 11 years and therefore that means the selections chosen for them to read weren't exactly new, interesting, and up to date.

One of my boys starts grumbling about how he hates when that happens and it just ruins his day to have to read things that are so "super boring".

Of course my response was, "Yes of course Kiddo. There are men in suits sitting in their office at the publisher saying, 'Hmm...Kiddo Smith. What can we do to ruin his day?"

Kiddo thinks for a second then says, "Hmm. They must know my mom then."

Thank God....Literally

We have officially made it through the first 7 days of school. My classroom finally looks fairly respectable (though I'm missing a large crate of childrens' books that is probably buried deep within my storage unit, never to be found again). The kids are wonderful. Now that says a lot since in general, I pretty much hate chidlren. They're usually rude, sticky, and know way too much about dating and sex, but these kids...they're like REAL KIDS!

Every day I get thank yous from my kids on their way out the door. They laugh at my ridiculous jokes, indulge me in my literary addictions, and they all do their homework regularly. I even had one of my little girls give me a gift of Crayola Twistable crayons, markers, and clay. When she handed me the gift bag and said it was for me, I was so startled I said, "Thank you honey, but why is this for me?"

She shrugged, thought about it for a second, then said, "Just for being you."

This has to be a honeymoon period. There's absolutely no way the whole school year can go this smoothly, right?

Friday we had a birthday in the 5th grade and the birthday girl brought in what is referred to as a "cupcake cake". It is what the title suggests- a cake made of multiple cupcakes. Of course at the end of the day on a  Friday, sugar was EXACTLY what the rugrats needed. The afternoon ended with me trying to explain to one of my girls why the "5 Second Rule" should not be universally applied to frosting after it has landed on the nasty blue carpet that has been on our classroom floor since, well, the time of Christ. Hey, we are in Catholic school. It's possible the carpeting is that old...