We don't scream for ice cream

On Friday, Ms. Jenn Ed and I were scheduled to have our second Lunch Bunch, for the kids in our classes who had done all of their homework for the previous three weeks. You may recall, the first time we did Lunch Bunch, we had a whopping 11 students (out of 41 on our rosters) who had done all of their homework. This time around, we saw a massive increase, as the Lunch Bunch swelled to THIRTEEN students!

Unfortunately, I had an extremely long day on Thursday -- I was at the school from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. -- and I just didn't have the energy to run by the store that night to buy ice cream. So Friday morning, I informed the kids that we would be moving the Lunch Bunch to Monday, when I would have a chance to get ice cream. They told me, almost unanimously, that they didn't care about the ice cream. They just wanted to do the Lunch Bunch with their teachers. I say ALMOST unanimously, because one of the little bratty girls in my class began shouting that she DID care about the ice cream. I had to force myself to use a gentle tone while reminding her that she was not in fact a member of the Lunch Bunch, and that her opinion on the issue mattered less than my opinion on No Child Left Behind.

So we had our Lunch Bunch, and it was a stellar affair full of revelry. I even bonded with one of my kids over our mutual taste in comic book superheroes. As part of their lunch, all of the kids had gotten Ring Pops. Several of them were holding them up in the air exclaiming, "Look! We're superheroes!"

I mentioned to the boy sitting next to me that only the kids with GREEN Ring Pops were really superheroes, because they could be the Green Lantern. The boy looked at me with disdain and stated, "I don't care about the Green Lantern. I would rather be The Flash."

In case you're not aware, I have a strong affinity with The Flash. I've always loved that character, and that was even my perennial Halloween costume for about six years running, no pun intended.

So I looked at the boy with newfound respect and asked, "You like The Flash?" He nodded, and then said in his pristine French accent, "If Superman and The Flash had a race, The Flash would win. I think it is because The Flash is the master of running, and Superman is the master of flying."

That boy is going to go far.

In sadder news, I lost one of my little sweethearts on Friday. One of our apartment complexes closed over Christmas break, and all of the residents had to move. Unfortunately, this little girl in my class moved to a nearby apartment that feeds into ANOTHER elementary school. When our office discovered this, they withdrew her.

I was in a meeting late Friday afternoon, and I got back to my room just minutes before three o'clock. Just in time to see the little girl walk out of Ms. Jenn Ed's classroom in tears. She walked up to me, gave me a big hug, and said, "I sure am gonna miss you."

I sure am going to miss her too. She was an island of sweetness and behavior in this year's choppy waters of insolence and apathy.