Can't Stand the Cuteness!

Okay, so all of you know that I teach kindergarten, right? This, of course, is the time of year when our little darlings are busy as beavers, constructing all those lovely little items to bring home to you, the doting parents. In the last few school days, we've made wreaths, candy trains, gingerbread houses, 3-D christmas trees, ornaments with the kids' pictures on them, colored countless holiday themed pictures, and made (and ate) decorated cookies. Needless to say, the kids are about to spontaneously combust from all the excitement. Today, they got yet another reason to hype them up beyond all rational thought. Not only was it the last day of school, but it was also the day that Mrs. K broke out the red lipstick.

Now, I don't normally wear a lot of makeup, and there's good reason. I take you back to when we had school pictures made back in, like October, and one of my little angels says, "Mrs. K, what's wrong with your eyes? They're all spiky and scary!" Plus, I did so much theater for a while that my face really can't stand to be covered under all that goop, and it rises up in retaliation when I do try to subdue it with said makeup.

I have one little boy that I adore. I know, I know -- we're not supposed to have favorites! We all do, even though we aren't supposed to. It's not that I don't love all the rest of them, too...but this one little guy is just cuter than anything. He's very quiet and shy, and very sweet. He always finishes his work first, and sits quietly until we tell him what to do next. He has excellent manners, and is just a treat to teach. I've been trying to drag him out of his shell all year -- trying to get him to warm up some. His mother says he talks about his teachers all the time, but we see little of it at school. Since he's so well-behaved, I have been teasing him that I was going to bring my reddest lipstick to school and kiss him all over with bright red lips. He thought I was kidding.

Today, I broke out the big guns! The dreaded red lipstick. You would have thought that I had broken out a bottle of acid and the whips the way they screamed when I fished it out of the bottom of my pocketbook! I called my favorite little guy up for a kiss, and he made like a turtle on me. He put his head down into his jacket, and wouldn't come out for love nor money. I told him that I wouldn't kiss him if he didn't want me to. He didn't. I let him go. But all those other rascals got big red lips on their cheeks! They all snickered and guffawed at each other. I told them they were magic kisses, and they'd get a special Christmas wish if they left them on all day. All except one left school today sporting a bright red smacker on their cheeks.

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Offspring has discovered her weasel-like nature. The other night, while she was getting ready for bed, I told her to go on and brush her teeth, and I'd be there in a minute. She said "Okay!" and scampered off to the bathroom. When I went back to her room a few minutes later, expecting to find a scrubbed child ready for bed, she was lounging on the couch in her room, watching her TV. I said, "What happened to tooth brushing?" She said, "Oh! You meant now?" Well, duh. She went to brush her teeth, and came bopping back a few minutes later. Her jaw dropped open when I motioned her towards her bed. "But...but....what about a story?" I explained to her -- "That time that you spent, watching TV instead of brushing your teeth? That was your story time. And you wasted it." She looked shocked, but started to climb the ladder to her loft bed. "I hate it when you find loopholes!"