School Stories

Julia has been a total chatterbox this evening, telling me one thing after another about her school day.

One of the anecdotes she shared was this:

JULIA: Mommy?  At school we have pictures of kids doing the WRONG things, and then, like, one picture of a kid doing the RIGHT thing.
ME: Oh, you do, huh?
JULIA: Yeah.  And Mama?  One time I was doing something that nobody else in the class was doing.
ME: What were you doing?
JULIA: Just...sitting on the rug QUIETLY.
ME: Oh.  And what were all the other kids doing?
JULIA: I think...(furrowing her brow)...like...maybe just, like, talking LOUDLY.
ME: Oh, I see.  Were they not supposed to be doing that?
JULIA: Well, I think...like...maybe they weren't supposed to be talking SO loudly.
ME: Oh, so maybe they should have been using more of an indoor voice.
JULIA: Well, I think because the LIGHTS WERE OFF, and usually that means it's time to be quieting down, that's why they were supposed to be talking quietly.
ME: Okay, I see.  Did your teacher notice you were sitting quietly?
JULIA: (nodding her head, looking bashful)
ME: What did she say?
JULIA: (furrowing her brow, thinking hard) Well, I think...like...(scrunching up her face in concentration) Something like...I notice Julia is sitting quietly even though all her friends are talking loudly.  (Looking embarrassedly pleased and smiling shyly.)

After I heaped loads of praise on her for not succumbing to peer pressure, she was eager to share more of her school accomplishments.

JULIA: Mama?  Do you want to hear ALL the letters we learned in school so far?  There's a LOT of them, so I might not be able to remember them all.

For all you lucky readers, Julia was willing to do her Fundations Letter exercises on video:



Madeleine is not quite on the same plane of stellar listening as Julia today.  After about twenty minutes of asking her to come to the dinner table to eat, with her COMPLETELY ignoring me and continuing to single-mindedly color in her My Little Pony book, I had reached the end of my rope.  Apparently she had, as well.

ME: Madeleine.  That's enough coloring.  You need to come to the table and eat now, please.
MADELEINE: Mama!  Come ooooon!  This is getting RIDIKALIS!

My sentiments exactly.