Bitter Pajama Amsterdam

Tomorrow, we have a half-day of school. In truth, it's a four-and-a-half-sevenths day of school. Really. I calculated it. Of course, HH got wind of it, so he has taken the WHOLE day off from his work. I hate it when that happens. It's not even like a holiday when he horns in on it. Color me bitter. It's just more work around the Mansion for me. And now, I've made more work for you by commanding you to color me bitter. And stay within the lines, too, or I'll have you screened for fine motor skill deficiency. By cracky. Because I hold all the power here at my Mansion, just like I do at school. Not that it's gone to my head or anything. I try to be reasonable. When a student suggested making a card for a girl who was injured in a four-wheeler accident, I agreed. I let them draw a big blackboard on the card, because she looooves the blackboard. You might say she is obsessed with it, but that wouldn't be nice, and I'm trying to be reasonable, so let's just say that she really, really, likes the blackboard. And on the blackboard drawing, a kid wrote, "you + we = miss", which I thought was kind of clever. And then we wrote "1 + 1 = 2 and 2 + 2 = 4", because, hey, we're her math class, and we don't want her to forget how to do math while she's gone. I refrained from writing "206 - 2 = 204" in honor of the two bones she allegedly broke, because, well, that would not have been very nice, even though it would have been funny, but I doubt that she would get it, because I don't think she knows there are 206 bones in the human body, which probably y'all don't know, either, and are scratching your heads and saying, "What's so funny about that?", except for the couple of you who might be saying, "Is that a tick?"

The #2 son had pajama day at school. He doesn't know why, only that it's for the whole third grade. He didn't want to participate, until he dug to the bottom of the shoe box and found some slippers. The way it works around the Mansion is that he slept in his green pajamas with the army truck thingies on them, and woke up, and dressed in his blue pajamas with the grizzly bears on them. I asked if he was sure he wanted to wear the shirt. They are winter pajamas, after all, and it was supposed to be 65 today, with rain. He assured me that he wanted the real deal. I had offered him a plain white T-shirt. I wouldn't let him go topless. That is frowned upon, even on pajama day. He declined. When I dropped him off, he climbed out of the Large SUV right in front of the duty teacher, the one whose name escapes me, but who never smiles, or acknowledges him, or even looks at him when he gets dropped off. Most of them at least smile. This one is a tough nut to crack. He hopped out, said, "Good day to you!" (like his older brother says when he thinks he's funny and dismissing somebody whose ideas don't mesh with his), and stopped right in front of that duty teacher, pointed his finger at her, and said, "Don't even say anything!" and ran into the building. I thought I saw a corner of her mouth crinkle slightly, but I can't be sure. After school, I asked if everybody participated in pajama day. He said, "Most of the class. A lot of them just had pajama pants. They said I was lucky to have a shirt."

Great Googley Moogley! My son's class has been assigned reports on various countries. One of the young 'uns asked for 'Amsterdam'. They sure are startin' young, eh? After being informed that Amsterdam is not a country, the child settled on The Netherlands. Thank the Gummi Mary this was my 12-year-old's class, not the 9-year-old. Still, it was bad enough when the 10th grader wanted a senior trip to Amsterdam. Now, the tweeners want to go, too. Does anyone else think this is OH SO WRONG, talking about the Amsterdamish goings-on in front of the children? Perhaps these people are world travelers, obsessed with the architecture, or the fabulous food, or the rich history of the city. Perhaps I am jumping to conclusions.
Nawww. I don't think so.