Best not to read between the lines

My hair has gotten long enough that I wore it to school in a pony tail for the first time. A group of third grade girls approached me at recess and one of them said "you don't look like you!" while a second girl went in for the kill - "you look really pretty".

 I could only laugh, and totally appreciate the sweet intention.

Really?

Try to follow this and you get a tiny sense of my life at school

Told to me in tears:
"My friend got mad at me. I was pretending something was real and she said that's not real so I told her it was to real, even though it wasn't - but I was pretending it was, so I had to say that."

Deep breath in and.....

After being gone for 3 days, a first grade friend greeted me this morning and literally said in one breath: 

Hi Mrs. Y - I'm back they buried my grandma in a coffin because she stopped breathing and my mom said I can wear sandals now because it's warmer is it going to rain today and I found a rock shaped like a heart I didn't buy it I found it and I'm havining a sleep over this weekend and am going to wear the nightgown I got for Christmas and I can't wait for summer beacause S. and I are going to have a play date every week when does the bell ring?

I don't know about her, but at 8:45 I felt like I had put in 1/2 a day already.

Fly like an eagle

It's not unusual for an eagle to fly over the playground, but it's not something the kids take for granted either. Today, instead of the usual " Mrs. Y - look!!", I had a boy come up to me and say very seriously "you know, when an eagle circles, a man has died". I'm not sure what look this prompted from me  (though I was thinking "huh?") because he quickly reassured me as he looked out onto the play field, "don't worry. I said man. Not child".

Times like this I do wish recess was longer, since the bell rang and he was gone. Yep - leaving me  just a little unsettled.

They say breakfast is the most important meal

A kindergartner, who is often rambunctious, was being particularly rambunctious this morning before school. When I talked to him about it, he explained this is what happens when he's hungry. Later, the school custodian, who had witnessed the morning's events, was remarking to me about them. I shared with him the student's  "hungry" explanation - to which the custodian quickly said "poor kid is always hungry".

If only it was that easy.