"They're all Punzels"

I think Halle wants me to train for a marathon. At least that's what my trip to Target with her felt like. I have never in my life seen a child run so fast, while laughing so hard. I'm sure the other shoppers were glad for the free entertainment, especially those who caught my near-splits while rounding a corner. After what seemed like hours of chasing her through every aisle and clothing rack, she came to a screeching halt when she saw the aisle full of PINK! That's where I shot this little video.

What this video doesn't show is the trail of pink items she had pulled of the shelves in her path of destruction. I shot this a little too late. She had been carrying that large box of princess Barbies across the whole length of the toy section to find her mom and ask her if she could get them. What dedication. Then she was lured in by a Punzel doll she had never seen before and all the other princesses were carelessly tossed aside. Yes, that pink bouncy ball on the ground was once her prized possession, too. I stood back and laughed as she struggled with the ball bin for a while, certain she wouldn't be able to pull the pink one out from the bottom. But she did. What a funny little stinker.

As memorable as this trip to Target was. I have sworn to my sister that I am never going again with her and the wee ones. Just like I swore a few months ago.

Days of my life

Now that I have a lot of free time, I've been working as a substitute teacher for some of my friends and former co-workers. It helps me feel like my brain isn't turning into mush. And it's great because I hardly ever have to sit down, which is what I try to avoid most of all. But mostly, it's been really, really fun. It really makes me homesick for teaching. But this way I get the teacher fix without having to sit for hours planning the curriculum or dealing with parents.

In case you haven't noticed, I don't use my last name on my blog. I don't even use my husband's name. It's a small effort to try to maintain some sense of privacy from would-be serial killers. If you do know my last name, you know that it's not very common and that it might sound silly to some people . . . some very young people. Last week when I entered a second-grade classroom, I introduced myself and the entire class burst into laughter. Sadly, I had the same reaction when my now-husband first introduced himself to me.

Things that I miss about working in an young elementary classroom:
1. The calling out of "teacher, teacher" whenever someone wants your attention.
2. The line up of kids waiting to hug you at the end of the day.
3. The boys in that line up who wind up to give you a super hard high-five slap.
4. Pretending that the high five really hurt your hand.
5. The copycat stories. One student raised her hand last week to tell me that I remind her of her aunt. Then consequent responses from multiple students followed. I reminded someone of their mom, their cousin, their sister, and so on.
6. How every unfamiliar noise kids hear sounds like a fart to them. This is followed by endless giggling.
7. When talking about the north and south poles of the earth, Santa is inevitably brought up.
8. Kids aren't afraid to dance in music class.
9. Young kids grab my hand to get my attention before telling me about something they have that's contagious.
10. "Are you a teenager?" I always say yes.


I've also been filling up a lot of my time lately with baking. This too keeps me busy while not having to sit down. But I think I'm going to hang my chef's hat up for a while. I have wasted one too many bags of M&Ms or chocolate chips on cookies that go flat. And you can't give flat cookies away (though I tried), so you just end up keeping them all and eating your weight in flat cookies. So I'm taking a break because I'm a quitter. Kind of always have been.

As evidence to back the theory that I'm a quitter, I'm going to quit this blog post with out a concluding paragraph.