A Mother's Brag Fest--Please Excuse

Today I volunteered in Ben’s class. I ended up not working with Ben (bummer), but a group of six other kids. While we cleaned up, I asked them what Ben was like in class (I thought it would be interesting to get their perspective). They said, “Ben’s smart and always raises his hand. “ Another one said, “Ben never gets in trouble, but he laughs A LOT at everything.” And another comment was “Ben talks too fast. I can’t keep up with what he’s saying.” Finally, “Ben’s very mature.”

I then went to lunch with Meg, Ben and Sam. Their lunches are different times, so I sat in the lunchroom for about 70 minutes when it was all said and done. But since I didn’t have Molly with me I was able to get the “411” from everyone. Meg showed me the boy she thinks is "nice" (so does every other 4th grade girl in her class—that’s the new thing—to like the same boy). I finally met the “mysterious” Madison (she later told Meg that I looked like a teenager—By the way, Madison is my new favorite friend of Meg’s).

After eating lunch with Sam, Mrs. Banbury told me a little story about him. She said that last week their class was reading a story about a big brother who didn’t want his mom to have a baby. Sam raised his hand very concerned and said, “That makes me so sad that the boy didn't want a baby; babies are a present to every family. I love my baby sister” She also told me that Sam has such a big heart with his classmates as well, and he makes sure that every day he says “good-bye” to every single child in the class by name. She also commented that he says “Hello/Good-bye” to anyone else that may be in the hall during the walk to and from the bus. Mrs. Banbury said, “If Sam isn’t president someday, I will be surprised.” Unfortunately these social attributes tend to get him in a bit of trouble at times as well--as I also learned during my discussion with Mrs. Banbury today.

Meanwhile Molly was with a friend whose mom took them to Wal-Mart and bought her a whole pack of gum. While I was switching the laundry, Molly got to the gum, and I found all the empty wrappers in the garbage. The 24 pieces of gum are stuck in Molly’s stomach for 7 years (please tell me this a wives’ tale).