Everyone Knows What That Stands For!

Ever had one of those mornings when you forgot to set the alarm and wake up, panicked, only a half-hour before your oldest child has to be in school?

Yep. Things were hopping at the Stair house today.

Fortunately, Boo is a pretty responsible kid, and most days she’s able to get herself ready in the mornings without major meltdowns over outfit choices or hairstyles. (Like her mother, she’s happy with jeans and a sweatshirt, and a ponytail!) She usually sets her alarm for 6:00 and is dressed and ready for school in just a few minutes, giving her plenty of time to finish any upcoming homework and write notes to her friends before school. (I did mention that she loves writing notes, didn't I?)

BRAGGING ALERT: In fact, I was so proud of our little Boo when she was presented the “Responsibility Award” for first grade at a school assembly last Friday. :-)

But did I mention that somehow we both forgot to set our alarms this morning?

Ack!

That’s why today, at 7 a.m., I awoke with a start, looked at the clock, freaked out, briefly debated whether it would be okay for Boo to be tardy . . . sighed, and then crawled out of my electric-blanket-heated bed to head upstairs as fast as my groggy legs would go.

We still managed to have a good morning, with Boo getting dressed and having breakfast, along with her regimen of eye drops, in time for me to drop her off at school. (Hooray for our new elementary school, which is just five minutes from our house!)

But she didn’t have time to finish her homework before school, as she usually does. Not to worry; this particular assignment was not due until her next GATES class, which is on Friday. Still, I grabbed a pen and her paper on the way out the door and decided to let her do it in the car.


The assignment: “The ABCs of Thanksgiving.” Come up with something about Thanksgiving for every letter of the alphabet.

Most of these are really easy, and I have to admit, she came up with some good answers. I mean, "cornacopieas"? Regardless of the spelling, I'm impressed she even knows the word. Um, mostly.

As we were working our way down the list, thinking of all the yummy food on Thanksgiving—from “A?” “Apple pies!” to “S?” “Sweet potatoes!” (That’s my girl… she knows my favorite dish!)—we got to the letter “T.”

“That’s easy, honey,” I said from the driver’s seat. “Everybody knows what T stands for.”

Turkey! I thought. That's an easy one.

“Oh, you’re right!” Boo responded brightly, writing on her page:

Of course!