Shameless

Last Saturday, Joe & I went on a date. A friend of ours, Brian, agreed to watch the kids. (Brian is a great guy, but Rebekah was probably in charge!) Once we left the restaurant, I told Joe not to forget that we HAD to get toilet paper before we went home. Seriously, if we didn't get TP, we would be in dire straits. The night was a lot of fun. At the end, we returned to Brian's house to pick up the kids. (Just to let you know how great Brian is, I believe he watched Freaky Friday w/Bekah twice! I mean what guy doesn't love a teeny-bopper flick w/ Lindsey Lohan:) As we talked, we realized it wasn't really 11:00, but midnight with the coming "spring forward" time change. We said our farewells & loaded the kids in the car. Then it dawned on me, we had forgotten to get TP. At this time, the grocery store near us would be closed, & I didn't relish the thought of a trip to Wal-Mart at this hour. So, as most mothers, I did what I had to. I rolled down the window (sidebar: why do we still call it "rolling" down the windows when we have automatic windows now??) & called out to Brian, "Hey Brian, would you give us a roll of toilet paper so we don't have to go to the store?" I thought Joe was going to die. Brian immediately ran inside & returned with not one, but two, rolls! Is that Christian spirit or what?!

Fast forward to the ride home. Joe, obviously, unnerved by my lack of shame & self-respect told me that he would ask me never to do something like that again, but he knew that was useless. Instead he asked that I never do it again while he's around. He went on to sarcastically suggest that we should just stop by everyone's house that we knew on the way home & ask for TP. I replied enthusiastically, "Then we'd have a 24-pack!" Note: Joe was still not laughing.

Here's my thought: if I can't ask someone who is most like a brother for TP, who then, can I ask?? Sure, it's a little more personal than borrowing a cup of sugar, but certainly more important. Yesterday at Joe's work, I realized that Micah had a huge rip that had torn the toe of his shoe. I told Joe, forget TP, I should have asked for shoes!! (Yes, Micah now has a sporty new black pair of Lighnin' McQueen shoes from the movie Cars. He was convinced that these were the "fastest" shoes that he needed to win races against his friend Dalton. I mean , after all, it has to be the old shoes that were causing him to lose in the first place, right?)


I Couldn't Make This Stuff Up...

This past Monday we had 9 weeks exams. In order to prepare, we worked on study guides last Thursday. The students were paired together & allowed to work cooperatively. As I made my rounds, I began to help one of my favorite students & his partner. You guessed it, the same big guy with a passion for food. (I'll just call him Bob from here on out.) Near the end of class, my co-teacher was wrapping up the assignment & giving instructions before locker break. She held up the guide we had been working on for almost an hour and stressed to the kids not to come to class on Friday w/o it completed. But most importantly, DO NOT come to class w/o it. With enthusiasm, Bob looks at me & says "Oh Ms. , we gettin' a study guide?" At which time, I had a strong urge to turn & bang my head on the concrete wall.

I also work with a sweet kid with autism. He speaks in a very deep, monotone voice- flat affect. The one class that he has the most problems with is social studies. I believe there may be a little bit of a personality clash or power struggle with the teacher. He calls me to his desk & here is our conversation:

Him: I passed my social studies test.
Me: (with enthusiasm) That's great!
Him: (still w/a deep, flat monotone voice) For the very first time, I love it.

I love these kids.