Crocs and Gators.

This morning I read a book called "CROCS AND GATORS" to a class of second graders. It's a short non-fiction piece with all sorts of facts, pictures and statistics about the differences between crocodiles and aligators.

As soon as I had finished, Carlos, a little man of the age of seven quickly raised his hand. "Do you have something to share with us about crocs or gators?" I asked. He smiled, cleared his throat and said "One time, while we were still living in Mexico.....my dad shot a crocodile that was by my house. Then he threw it up on the roof so we'd remember how he always protects us. And probably so no other crocs would mess with his kids. Oh, and I think he was probably as big as you....the croc, not my dad!"

Thanks for sharing, Carlos.

ballooney.

This week a teacher walked up to me and said "Dylan came up to me this morning and said:

"I've got something you probably shouldn't know about. Took it, and the parents don't even know about it!"

She proceeded to probe him for more information but he would only tell her the contraband was a "ballooney". She thought it was hilarious and asked me to find out more information.

I located my super-hero best friend at his locker where he was hanging up his glow-in-the-dark Transformers back pack and Superman lunch box [Complete with its own super-hero cape. I'm not joking.] I asked him point blank "What's a ballooney, Dylan?"

He got a crooked little smile on his face, looked left and then right, held his hand up beside his mouth and whispered "Took it, and the parents don't even know about it. Ha."

I played along like I knew what he was talking about and asked where he took it from.

"From church, Miss Kelli. Took it, and the parents don't even know about it. Ha."

"You took a ballooney from your church?!" I asked him, trying not to laugh.

"Not even my church, Miss Kelli. Someone else's church."

"You still didn't answer my question though.....what's a "ballooney?"

"You know," he said. "You blow air into it until it gets big and then you tie it shut!?"

"A ba-llooooon?" I asked.

"Right. A ballooney."

He then proceeded to close his locker and skip down the hallway, covering his hand over his back pocket so he didn't lose his "ballooney" along the way.