After last month’s $1,700 car repair bill we now have a truck that will not start sitting at my work. This is an epic fail in and of itself.
So instead of focusing on that fail, I shall share some of this week’s biggest successes and a funny story.
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Success #1: Making three returns in one day is like getting an unexpected paycheck – cha-ching! Crossing this off my to-do list was simultaneously gratifying and account expanding.
Success #2: Got a big old box of diet cherry coke from my Secret Santa at work, had a delish Chinese food dinner date with the husband, and scored free tickets for a phenomenal and hilarious production of Love’s Labour’s Lost at Cincy Shakes with a sweet new friend (said friend is also a fellow Texan, margarita drinker, and Shakespeare buff. Jackpot.)
Success #3: Went grocery shopping for the sole purpose of filling a box full of food for a St. Vincent de Paul family in need this holiday season. Felt so good to do! I’m stoked to drop it off on Sunday.
Success #4: Got another perfect-for-me (uh, I hope) theatre job application submitted, had a meeting with our insurance agent to get ourselves all sorted out for 2012, Christmas cards are signed, sealed and are ready for their debut, Christmas decorations are up, and the pumpkins have been reduced to tasty seeds.
Success # 5: My youngest musical theatre kiddos had a great day on Wednesday! They rocked their song, dance, and a staged reading of their recently revised script at our final rehearsal (not bad for kids who are just learning to read!) and we had time left over to rock out on a slew of fun theatre games. Which is where this week’s funny story comes in. It is entitled:
I Store Hamsters
I play a game called “No, you can’t take me!” with my youngest theatre kids, typically 3-6 year old’s who can’t read or write very well yet. They love the heck out of this game. And, apparently, so do some of my older kids too. The premise of the game is this: We select a location (a classroom, a house, a nursery, a store, an amusement park, etc.). Each child chooses an object that would be found in that location (a fork in a silverware drawer, a hanger in a closet, a bean bag chair, a bucket, a pet, a flashlight, a pen, a stove, etc.), and then they assume the physical position of that object. I play the teacher/homeowner/store owner/amusement park boss who walks in and decides that I have too much stuff and that I simply must get rid of some it. I walk up to each child and say something along the lines of “Wow, look at all this stuff! I haven’t used most of it in years. Guess I’ll just have to get rid of it. I’ll start with this one…” and I pick one of the kids, give them a gentle shake, and the kid, usually laughing the whole time, giggles “No! You can’t take me!” and I say “Well, why not!?” and then they give me a clue as to what they are by giving me a reason why I cannot get rid of them, such as “Because if you get rid of me you won’t be able to make it to work on time” (a clock) or “Because if you get rid of me then how will you sleep at night?” (a bed). And then I try to guess what they are. They give these kinds of clues until I figure it out. Easy peasy. Usually. This particular round, with one of my 5th graders, however, was not. And it went something like this.
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Me: Oh, I don’t think I need this old thing anymore. I’ll just have to get rid of it!
Kid: No, you can’t take me!
Me: Oh, I can’t? Well, why can’t I?
Kid: Because if you get rid of me, then where will you store stuff?
Me: Are you a closet?
Kid: No!
Me: Are you a crate?
Kid: Nooooo.
Me: Are you kitchen cabinets?
Kid: Nope.
Me: I think I need another clue or else I’ll just have to haul you off to Goodwill. Time to go…
Kid: No, you can’t take me!
Me: And why not!?
Kid: Because if you get rid of me then your kids will miss me!
Me: My kids will miss you?
Kid: Yup.
Me: But you store stuff?
Kid: Yup.
Me: Are you a refrigerator?
Kid: Uh-uh!
Me: Okay, kid. You gotta help me out here.
Kid: I’m an animal.
Me: ……
Kid: A pet.
Me: But you store stuff?
Another kid: I KNOW! YOU’RE A PREGNANT CAT!
Me & Kid: Ummmmmm.
Me: Are you a chipmunk and you store food in your cheeks?
Kid: Hahahaha. Chipmunks aren’t green.
Me: So, you’re green?
Kid: Yes.
Me: Ah!!! You’re a turtle, aren’t you? And you store yourself in your shell! (I’m feeling awfully proud of myself at this point for guessing something so obscure)
Kid: Nooooo.
Me: What!? How are you NOT a turtle!? You’re green!
Kid: Well, I can be any color, really. But I’m green.
Me: You’re really not a turtle?
Kid: It’s not that hard Mrs. R.
Me: Wow. Okay, look, we have dismissal in 2 minutes and I can’t figure it out, so I think you’re just going to have to tell me.
Kid: I’m a snake!!
Me:……..you’re a snake?
Kid: YES.
Me: But I thought you said you stored stuff?
Kid: I DO store stuff!
Me: Uh, you do?
Kid: I store, like, hamsters and stuff.
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BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
After I had a good long laugh we had a brief discussion on the differences between ‘storing’ and ‘eating.’
And my day was officially made.
