school girls & boys

Last year, my daughter was in 3rd grade and often had home work from school that directed her to tell about something she did or some family activity, and then to also describe her feelings about that. Sometime she was even given a hint on what to talk about. Looks like she just often lacked fantasy (on a given topic) and the events she mentioned were dull, so she just tried to use the keywords she picked up in the assignment itself. As a result, some very funny statements came out, such as:

“It was cold in the morning and I dressed warmer. I was amazed that I dressed warmer.”

or

“Last weekend we went to a grocery store. I was tickled pink by the fact that we went there.”

Now that Vera is student-teaching, she brings home funny stories from the other side of the elementary school scene – that is, as a teacher. She was explaining to a girl, an ESL student, the word “slug”. What we all learned that day, by the way, is that “slug” is not only a noun but also a verb, and with a very unexpected – compared to the noun – meaning:

strike heavily, especially with the fist or a bat; "He slugged me so hard that I passed out"

(according to Princeton’s online dictionary)

So, once the girl looked like she understood the word, she was asked to produce some phrase using the word. And the phrase was:

“He punched me like a slug.”

So, Vera has her funny moments at school, and she brings them home. And I tell you – we were all laughing as if punched by a slug.

And my son just turned 6. We started celebrating the weekend before that - with our kids' grandparents. Then we celebrated in just our immediate family on the actual birthday, and we also plan to celebrate with kids – his friends – on Saturday. I guess it confused him a bit, since I heard him saying to his friend on the actual b-day:

"Today is my birthday! and on Saturday I'll turn 6."

It's fun to have kids!

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