TGIVD

Today, we had our deferred Valentine's Day party at the end of the day, and it was a sugar-filled free-for-all. Actually, the kids weren't that bad, and there were a ton of goodies to be had. I needed a shopping cart to take all of the chocolate out to my car, and I also got a nice new mug and a cute little teddy bear.
When I went across the hall to Mrs. Educator's room to pass out cards, I overheard something that made me stop and wonder. One of the girls had brought cupcakes, and as she offered one to one of the boys, he told her, "I can only eat things that are sugar-free." First, it was odd to hear the word "sugar-free" coming from ANY child at my school, but even odder to hear it coming from this kid, whom my brother once described as "the spitting image of Tattoo from Fantasy Island," and whom I've lovingly dubbed "The Round Mound of Sound."
After I went back to my room, Mrs. Educator brought over a cupcake for me from C, the girl who had been told No Thanks by Tattoo.
Mrs. E told me, "Read the candy heart on top." The heart said, "Marry Me."
I asked, "Well she didn't specifically pick that one out, did she?"
Mrs. E replied, "Yes, she did," then walked back out with a wicked grin.
I took the heart off the top of the cupcake and followed her over to her room. All of the kids over there were giggling, and I popped the heart into my mouth and exclaimed, "Mmmmmm, tastes like. . ."
All of the kids yelled, "Ketchup??"
"Um, no. . .Tastes a lot like 'Marry Me!' Yummm-may!!"
C informed me that she had not looked at the hearts before putting them on the cupcakes. And I believe her. I think Mrs. E was just giving her a hard time.
But as you can tell, the kids have recently learned of my affinity for ketchup. Earlier in the week, M, a little girl in Mrs. E's homeroom, asked me, "Is it true that you love (*)?" The * is for something that I couldn't understand because it sounded like "cupchup." I thought I was talking to an Ewok or something (Yub nub!). After she repeated the question several times, one of the other kids finally chimed in with "ketchup." Mrs. Educator had apparently used me in an example of Main Idea/Details. Mister Teacher -- tall; math teacher; loves ketchup on mac&cheese.
Maybe for my birthday next week, some of the kids will give me ketchup. I'll probably get a handful of squeeze packets from the cafeteria as gifts.