E is for Ear

Each new school year is bound to bring home new exciting topics and activities. We are now 3 weeks in to term 2 and we are witnessing fun and fantastic things all the time. Letter of the week is wonderful, weekly trips to the school library bring home fun new books, and box construction isn't new, but the work is getting larger and more detailed. This is where the children use all kinds of materials; boxes, popsicle sticks, empty containers, lids, corks, etc. to create whatever their minds can imagine. It's wonderful for them- and absolutely horrible for the amount of clutter in my house. Last year, these were called "Glueings" by the children. D's teacher in kindy, explained that they had ended up with that name because the kids rarely put their names on them, the teachers rarely knew what on earth they were, and when a teacher would need to find out who they belonged to, they would shout out, "Whose glueing is this?" I found it hilarious that the word had become a noun. See D's creations below. A shoebox castle with tissue box towers. And a My Little Pony stage with an egg carton add-on and some "nature" taped on top.

Anyway, another new item is 'News.' This is pretty much 'Show and Tell.' But the kids are encouraged to bring something that begins with the letter of the week. D has enjoyed the challenge of finding things around the house that begin with the correct letter.

Tuesday is D's news day so on Monday, as we were driving home, we were discussing what she would bring the following day. Elevator? Elephant? Exit? Eyes? Ears! D exclaims that we have a plastic ear at home that she could bring. I ask her if she knows the story of the plastic ear...

"Many years ago, when mommy and Uncle Joe were children, Uncle Joe won a single, large, plastic ear at our school carnival. It was a lame prize, winning just one. But Uncle Joe created as much joy from the ear as he could. He began wearing it each time we would leave the house together. Mommy was old enough to be very embarrassed by this, which brought Uncle Joe even more joy. Each time we would go out for groceries, Uncle Joe wore the plastic ear. On trips to the movie theatre, Uncle Joe wore the plastic ear. Every time we went out, Uncle Joe wore the plastic ear. Mommy was very annoyed and held quite a grudge against Uncle Joe, until the ear finally stopped appearing in public places."

This story made D giggle until she was red in the face and it was decided that her news would be Uncle Joe's large, plastic ear. Tonight, D found the ear so that she could put it in her backpack for tomorrow. Of course, she wore it around the house, laughing herself silly. So I pretended to be embarrassed, even though I found it very funny. Much funnier than it was when Uncle Joe and I were kids.

Imagine all the ways C will find to torment HIS big sister.