Favorite School Story of the Week

I was sitting with a first-grade class at lunch on Wednesday. I was sitting there listening to the chatter when two girls said, "Mrs. Rowland! You have something white in your hair!" Now, because I had my hair down and because I was eating mashed potatoes, my very first thought was that somehow I had gotten mashed potatoes in my hair.

I started trying to get whatever was in my hair out of my hair, but I couldn't find anything. The girls, helpful to the last, kept pointing and saying, "It's right there!"

At last, a chunk of my hair fell forward to where I could see it and could see what they were pointing at.

There was a pause.

I said, "Girls, my hair is white."

They sat back, impressed. "But...how did you get the white in your hair? Did you use spray?"

"Girls," I said, "I'm old!"

So Far Behind ALREADY

I've been battling a head cold all week and finally succumbed, despite sleep, fluids, vitamin C, and a great deal of rhetoric address to my own sinuses. I'm hoping this will be the turning point, though. Because honestly, I have far too much to do.

I have notes I wanted to write--not done.
I have pictures I need to post--not done.
I have reading assignments for school--not done.
I even left work early today because leaning down to put things away made my head feel like it would fall off.

In other news, I never realized how often I would be looking into children's mouths after taking a job at a school. But I have not yet found a gracious way to not peer at the loose/missing/new tooth. I have, however, found that "Wow! Awesome!" tends to cover most of these situations.